


Retrograde

by TheFictionalMe



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt Peter Quill, Hurt/Comfort, Starmora Week 2019, Team as Family, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-11-03
Packaged: 2020-10-26 12:02:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20741882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheFictionalMe/pseuds/TheFictionalMe
Summary: Starmora Week 2019Day 1 - Hello / Goodbye: By the time they reach Xandar, Peter is clinically dead. Yondu isn't too happy to see him.Day 2 - Stay: For Peter and Gamora, the word stay has many different meanings.Late entries:Day 3 - Lost / Found: Thanos discovers Gamora's biggest weakness and decides to use it against her. Unfortunately that weakness happens to be Peter Quill.Day 4 - Partner / Rhythm: Five times Gamora and Peter try to hide their new relationship from the rest of the Guardians, and one time everybody already knew.Day 5 - Warrior: Infinity War AU where Ego, not Thanos, is trying to destroy the universe...and he takes Peter to Vormir in search of the Soul Stone.Gamora doesn't react well.





	1. Day One: Hello/Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to the OP on Tumblr who is hosting Starmora Week 2019! I got really inspired this round.
> 
> This starts out more Yondu & Peter family feels, but there's definitely Starmora, promise! This is just one of my favorite tropes and it fit this prompt perfectly.
> 
> Enjoy!

_"Peter, open your eyes! Look at me! Peter!"_

_"He's bleedin' out all over the d'ast place!"_

_"I am Groot!"_

_"It's a grevious wound! We must get him to Xandar immediately."_

_"Oh no...I can't, I can't reach him anymore...he's fading away…I think we're losing him..."_

_"Damn it Quill, yer not dyin' like this! I'm gonna get this piece of junk into overdrive to Xandar now!"_

_"We are too late…"_

_"No! Peter, you have to hang on...Peter, please…."_

* * *

Peter wasn't expecting to wake up.

He is even more surprised that when he does wake up, he has _no_ idea where he is.

He's laying down, sprawled out uncomfortably on his back, on what seems like a hard surface but somehow simultaneously not, and wherever he is, it's dark, a heavy fog hanging all around him, making it hard to see more than a few feet in front of his face. He's aware of a distant burn between his ribs, an ache that he can't quite place for a moment—until it all comes back to him with a rush.

_Oh yeah. He was shot._

And the irony of it all is that it was a regular, run of the mill, ordinary bullet, like the ones that are found on Earth, but rarely in space.

Irony is a bitch sometimes. He wonders not for the first time if the universe is playing some sort of sick joke on him. He's survived Ronan and Ego and so many other things that should have killed him, with Thanos still out there as a threat at any moment—just to be shot with a regular, mundane, Terran bullet, trying to protect an innocent civilian they were rescuing from an interplanetary hostage situation.

And he didn't think. He just ran and pushed the Krylorian child out of the way, just as the muzzle of the rifle aimed in their direction, going off with a deafening roar.

He's always had a self-sacrificing streak, according to the other Guardians—especially Gamora. Apparently he still hasn't leaned. One of his issues.

Still trying to get his bearings, Peter sits up slowly, trying to see anything else in the foggy darkness around him. He feels like he's been plopped down in the middle of one of those terrifying Halloween movies that his mother had always tried to keep him from watching.

He chances a glance down at himself, expecting more pain or at the very least more blood from where he was shot...but there's nothing. No bullet wound, no blood, just a fading pain in his side where the bullet had lodged between his ribs.

It doesn't make _any_ sense.

Peter isn't sure if he's alive or dead. He isn't sure _where_ he is.

Unsteadily, he gets to his feet, looking around to get any sort of direction. "Hello?" he calls out cautiously, wondering if he is alone in this strange place. "Is anybody else here?"

No answer. Not that he was expecting one, really.

Peter suddenly wonders where the rest of the Guardians are. They wouldn't have just left him here, wherever _here_ is. Hopefully, them not being here is a good thing, but he doesn't know what the hell is happening. He quickly tries to quell his growing panic, because that's not gonna help him get out of this place.

He just hopes they're all safe. That's all he's ever wanted, really. To protect the people he loves.

In the distance, finally, he thinks he spies a soft light glowing far away, looking curiously like a street lamp trying to cut through the heavy fog, like a scene out of Mary Poppins or something. Peter decides it's as good a place as any to start, and he starts walking in the general direction of the glowing light.

It feels like it takes forever as he walks towards the light, slowly getting brighter and brighter as he wanders through the mysterious fog towards it. As he walks, a sudden chill runs down his spine, and he freezes in his tracks, very aware that he's not alone anymore.

But that's nothing compared to the pure shock of the voice he hears next, a voice he hasn't heard in _years_, a voice he never thought he'd ever hear again.

"Damn it boy, what fool thing did you do now?"

Peter turns around very slowly, not even daring to breathe, as his eyes finally land on a familiar blue face that he never thought he'd see again.

He's completely speechless, just staring at him with a dumb look on his face.

_This can't be possible._

Yondu steps closer to him when he doesn't respond, his face becoming unmistakably clear now as the thick fog swirls around them. "What's a matter Quill, you forget how to talk since I been gone?"

"_Yondu?"_ Peter breathes, still staring at him in shock and disbelief, until he does something that he's wanted to do since he was a kid, especially after Yondu sacrificed himself to save him—he steps forward, and pulls Yondu into a tight hug.

The Ravager captain grunts in surprise at Peter's outward display of affection, because that was something they'd _never_ done, when Yondu had been alive, but after a moment, Yondu returns the hug, pulling Peter into a tight embrace.

"It's good to see ya, boy."

After a minute, Peter pulls back, still just trying to process the how and the why of Yondu being right in front of him, feeling slightly embarrassed that he'd just hugged the crap out of his long-lost adopted dad, but not really caring, either. "I'm sorry, I just...you gave your life for me, man, and I never got to thank you, to tell you that..."

"Quill," Yondu holds up a hand, effectively cutting off his rambling. "It's okay. I already know. And I'm sorry it took me dyin' for me to tell ya how I really felt. Ravagers don't do feelings."

Peter nods, understanding that, but he suddenly frowns at him, punching Yondu's shoulder a little roughly. "You shouldn't have sacrificied yourself for _me_. I didn't want you to give your life for mine, Yondu! I was ready to die, on Ego."

Yondu just shakes his head, a knowing look on his face. "No, boy, you wasn't. You still had a lot of good to do in the universe, and you," he hesitates, as if the words are still hard for him to actually voice aloud, "yer my son, in all the ways it matters. I knew what I was doin' when I put that damn space suit on ya, and I'd do it again. I don't regret nothin' about savin' ya."

Peter swallows thickly, and he's not getting teary-eyed, he's not...he's just dreamed of having this conversation for so long, the final closure he'd really never had a chance to have when Yondu had saved him. He's so beyond grateful to have it now, that he doesn't really even process the reason _why_ this conversation might actually be possible.

"I just, I can't believe you're actually _here," _Peter breathes in disbelief.

Yondu's toothy grin disappears, replaced with a stern look on his blue face, even through the fog. "Quill, did ya ever actually think 'bout where _here_ is?"

Peter hesitates, as the memories from earlier, that he's all but pushed to the back of his mind, come flooding back.

The pain, the blood, the world swimming around him as the bullet tore through him.

The voices, of his family, of _Gamora_, pleading for him to hang on.

Then darkness, and waking up here, with a disappearing gunshot wound, the pain being gone, the Guardians being gone, ending up in this ethereal place complete with the cliche white light behind them.

And the final kicker, seeing Yondu...who has been dead for _years_.

In a final moment of self-preservation, Peter shakily places his own fingers to his neck, just to make sure.

The realization that he can't feel his own pulse under his finger tips sends a cold shiver of dread down his spine.

"Am I…?" he begins, the cold reality of what's really happening here setting in, realizing he can't bring himself to say the words.

Yondu gives him an uncharacteristically gentle look, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I'm afraid yer time is almost up, boy." He motions to the light behind them.

Peter sucks in a deep breath at that. Deep down, if he really thought about it, he knew where he was, but part of him had hoped that it was some sort of dream, or yet another near-death experience, because the universe knows he's had plenty of those...but this time seems to be the time that's going to stick.

He's dead.

It's Yondu's turn to smack him now, and he does so, lightly against the back of his head. "Damn it, I didn't give up mah life for ya just for you to go do some fool thing and end up here with me."

Peter manages to look chagrined, rubbing the back of his head as he looks back at Yondu. "I just, I didn't think, there was a kid, and I had to save her..."

Yondu nods, as if he understands that concept more than Peter knows. "You always did have a knack for trouble, Quill. And I'm glad to see ya again, boy, but I didn't want it to be so soon."

Peter gestures widely with his hands. "I know, I know, I really messed up this time."

"No," Yondu sighs, looking at him seriously, "ya didn't. You did a brave, but stupid thing, like usual, and it cost ya this time. I can only imagine how that little team of yers is handlin' it."

Peter's eyes grow wide. "Wait, they aren't here, are they? Are they safe? Did they make it out okay? Is Gamora..."

"Quill," Yondu interrupts his panicked questioning with a impatient sigh, "relax. They're all fine. Well, maybe not fine, but they ain't here. They're alive."

Peter exhales heavily at that, feeling relieved and also a little guilty. "Okay, okay, that's good."

Yondu raises an eyebrow at him. "Were they there with ya?"

Peter nods slowly. "Yeah, they were there, they were talking to me, Gamora was begging me to..."

He trails off, looking down at his feet in the swirling fog, feeling his heart clench—well, if it was still beating, it would have, anyways—at the fear and desperation in Gamora's voice, as she begged him not to die, as she pleaded with him to hang on, as she squeezed his hand and tried to keep him there with her.

"_Peter, you have to hang on...Peter, please…._

He'd let her down, and he hopes more than anything else that she will be okay without him, that the rest of the Guardians will be okay without him.

"Yeah, your girl is gonna take this real hard," Yondu replies somberly, as if reading Peter's thoughts. "She's not gonna handle this real well, you dyin' like this, after everything you been through. Either is the rest of yer friends."

Peter's head snaps back up to look at Yondu now. "What's gonna happen to all of them? To Gamora?"

Yondu shrugs. "They won't have ya there to lead 'em now, to keep 'em together. They might not be able to be a team anymore without ya."

Peter doesn't want _this_, to have the Guardians fall apart without him, to make Gamora lose yet another person in her life who she loved...but he doesn't have a choice, this time.

At least, he doesn't think he does.

"Well, boy, whenever yer ready, you can go on up," Yondu nods at the light behind them, which Peter notices has suddenly grown brighter since they've been talking, feels closer than it has this entire time, the fog slowly beginning to dissipate around them.

Peter looks at him in confusion. "What about you?"

Yondu shakes his head, but there's a knowing look on his face now, like he knows something Peter doesn't. "Nah, I'm just here to guide ya. The rest of the journey is on your own."

Peter frowns at this. "No, I just got you back. I'm _not_ losing you again."

Yondu looks at him seriously. "Well, you gotta make a choice, Quill."

Peter just feels even more confused now. He unconsciously rubs his side, the dull ache slowly returning, throbbing under his skin. "What kind of a choice? I get to make a choice here?"

Yondu just grins at him, but he's giving him that look now that means this is _exactly_ the question Peter should be asking.

Peter steps back away from the glowing light, wanting a straight answer from Yondu, unable to believe he's testing him _here_ and now of all places. "Yondu, what kind of a choice?"

"_Peter...__please.__.."_

Peter suddenly hears Gamora's voice, he's sure of it, and it sounds like it's echoing all around them in the fog. He pushes his hand even harder against his ribs now, because the dull ache is turning into a deep burn now, as he starts looking around frantically for the woman he loves.

"Gamora?" he calls out, looking around in the fog desperately and moving even farther away from the light. "Gamora!"

"Quill," Yondu is suddenly right next to him again, and he tries not to think about how unnaturally fast he is at his side, "she ain't here."

"But I heard her! I'm sure of it!" Peter argues, stumbling a little bit as the pain in his side steadily increases, but he's too worried about Gamora to really pay much attention to it now, just holding his ribs as he regains his balance.

"She's on the other side," Yondu tries to reassure him. "She's sayin' her goodbyes to you. Just like we are gonna do now."

"No," Peter shakes his head vehemently, "I can't lose her, I can't lose you..."

"Boy, ya never lost me," Yondu grips his shoulders tight now, eyes shining intensely in a way that Peter rarely saw when he was alive, in a way that says how much Yondu is _actually_ feeling. "I've always been right with ya."

Peter isn't getting teary-eyed again, he's _not_...but he grips Yondu's shoulder back tightly. "Thanks for bein' my dad, Yondu."

Yondu squeezes his shoulders again, and Peter can tell how affected he is by him calling him _dad_. After a moment, he clears his throat, looking at Peter seriously. "Just so ya know, Quill, I'm proud of ya. And yer mama is real proud of ya, too."

Peter's heart nearly stops—well it already has, apparently—but now it feels like it's in his throat. "My _mom_?"

"Yeah," Yondu nods once, "real delightful gal. She says hi, by the way."

Peter _definitely_ has tears in his eyes now. "Wait, where is she? Is she here? Can, can I _see_ her?"

"_Peter...no..."_

That is definitely Gamora's voice again, echoing in his head, all around him. He can't leave her like this, she still needs him, his family still needs him…

But if his mother is here...

"Yer mama ain't ready to see ya yet, not so soon," Yondu motions with his head at the light, "but she's there, waitin' for ya."

Peter can't breathe. His whole life all he's wanted is to see his mother again...but then Yondu's words finally register. His mother isn't ready to see him yet, because then this will be permanent. He'll be dead and gone for good.

He looks at Yondu. "And if I go," he gestures at the glowing light, "is that it? That's that? I'm done?"

Yondu shrugs, but that shit-eating, all knowing grin is back on his face. "Like I said Quill, ya gotta make a choice."

Peter breathes heavily, wincing as the pain flares up through his side, through his whole body now.

"I have to go back," he voices aloud suddenly, realizing what he has to do. He has to go back to Gamora, and to the rest of his team. They _need_ him.

As much as he'd give anything to see his mother again...now isn't the time.

At least he'd gotten to see Yondu.

Yondu nods, already knowing that's what Peter was going to say. "Alright, Quill, then this is goodbye, for now. Next time I see ya, you better be an old man, got it?"

Peter chokes out a wet laugh, shaking his head at him. "As long as I'm not an old doofus like you."

Yondu gives him a fond, slightly exasperated look. "You wish, boy."

Then he steps back, giving Peter one long last look. "Bye, Quill."

And just like that, the fog swirls around him until he disappears.

"Yondu! Wait!"

But he's already gone. Peter takes a step to go after him, not wanting to lose his father figure yet again, but a sharp, unbearable pain courses through his side now, making him cry out as he collapses to his knees.

Peter looks down, and pulls his shaking hand away from his side again...only to see that it's now covered in blood.

The pain quickly continues to worsen, and Peter collapses completely to the ground, the blood roaring in his ears now, and all he feels is pain pain _pain_ as the fog swallows him whole.

As everything goes dark once again, he hears Gamora's voice echo through the fog one last time.

"_Peter...come back to me..."_

* * *

The first thing that comes back to Peter's senses is the overwhelming smell of antiseptic and bleach. Coupled with the gentle beeping of various machines around him, and a soft bed that most definitely isn't his and Gamora's bunk on the _Benatar_, Peter figures that can only mean he is in one place…the hospital. Probably on Xandar, at that.

That must also mean that he's somehow still alive.

He pries open his heavy eyelids slowly, blinking to focus his blurred vision. He's in a stark white hospital room, but it's dark, and only the light spilling in from the hallway and from the holo screens above his bed monitoring his vitals illuminate the room enough for him to see.

There are low voices carrying into his room from the hallway, and he can vaguely hear what sounds like Rocket and Drax talking, Drax's deep voice rumbling more than echoing, but he can't make out precisely what they're saying.

Peter suddenly becomes aware that there's a warm hand tightly clutching his own.

He turns his neck slightly then to see Gamora in a chair by his bed, her fingers tightly interlaced with his. She has her head propped forward onto the side of the bed next to him, and she's fast asleep. Peter frowns in worry at the exhaustion and stress evident on her face, even while she sleeps.

He must have really scared her this time.

Peter makes a move to squeeze her hand, but is surprised by how much even the small movement causes a sharp flare of pain to shoot through his whole side and chest. It elicits a small groan that he can't bite back, which makes Gamora instanty shoot up from her sleeping position, eyes wide, looking around frantically.

"Peter?" she asks, and her voice is so simultaneously full of hope and fear that Peter's heart lurches a little bit—and he's relieved to find that it's beating again now, distantly hearing the steady rhythm of his heart beat on the holo monitor. Their eyes meet, and Gamora, strong, beautiful Gamora, looks as though she's about to break.

"…Hi," he croaks, his voice dry and rough, sounding like he swallowed gravel.

"_Peter!"_ Gamora is suddenly hovering over him, smoothing back his hair from his forehead, barely able to hide the imperceptible shaking of her hand. There are tears steadily forming in her eyes, that she's forcibly blinking back. "We were, I was, so scared…that you wouldn't…"

She suddenly chokes back a sob, unable to hold it back any longer, and Peter instinctively pulls her closer to him, even though the motion to lift his arms takes all of his strength, and his chest and side feel as though they're on fire. None of that matters right now, though, nothing except having Gamora safe in his arms once again.

"'Mora…it's okay," he rasps into her dark hair, trying to soothe her, as she clings to him as though her life depends on it. "I-it's okay, I'm okay…"

"I am Groot?" another voice is in the room now, and Peter can hear several sets of footsteps coming hurriedly into the room. Gamora reluctantly pulls back, still gripping his hand like a lifeline, and now Peter can see the anxious and relieved faces of Drax, Mantis, Groot, and Rocket, perched on Groot's shoulder, all staring down at him.

Peter smiles weakly at his team, his family, as they all surround his bed. "…hey guys."

"Oh Peter, you're awake!" Mantis says brightly, breaking into a wide smile.

"I am Groot!" the preteen tree echoes a similar sentiment.

"It is good to see you awake, Quill," Drax rumbles softly, barely hiding the relief in his voice.

"It's about damn time," Rocket grumbles, trying to act unaffected and failing. "But yeah...welcome back, Quill."

"Thanks," Peter replies, wincing as he tries shifting slowly in the bed, unable to get comfortable. "It's, uh, _good_ to be back."

"How do you feel?" Gamora asks softly, unrelenting with her death grip on his hand, as if it's the lifeline keeping him there with them.

"Hmm," Peter groans as he shifts again, another sharp pain stabbing through his side as he moves, "okay." Gamora raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief, letting go of his hand and quickly adjusting some pillows behind his back. Peter gives her a grateful look and falls back against them with a loud sigh.

Rocket scoffs at him. "Yeah right, Quill. You were only shot, and out cold for five full day cycles, but sure you're just 'okay'."

"Five days?" Peter asks incredulously, closing his eyes, thinking of Yondu and his _very_ near-death experience. He opens his eyes again, grateful to see the people most important in his life staring down at him, concern and love in their eyes. This alone was worth coming back for. This was worth fighting for.

"Yeah," Gamora replies quietly, putting on a brave face, but Peter can see right through it, knows her well enough to know how affected she is by him nearly _dying_. "You really scared us, Peter."

What she means is _you really scared me_, but Peter already knows.

Gamora stops suddenly, unable to continue, and Peter squeezes her hand in reassurance, to remind her that he's really here, he's really okay. She flashes him a grateful smile and squeezes his hand tightly back. "I'm just so glad you are okay."

"I am Groot," Groot softly agrees, because yeah, they're all relieved he's alive, because they all really thought he was a goner this time.

He almost was.

"We did not think we could get you here in time," Mantis adds, eyes shining with grateful tears. "We're just so glad that you're okay."

"We were certain that you wouldn't survive this," Drax adds somberly, "but you are much stronger than we thought."

Gamora squeezes his hand even tighter.

Peter can't help the wry grin that crosses his face at Drax's back-handed insult--per usual--and at the Guardians pure love and concern for him.

Sometimes, he doesn't think he deserves them all, even as crazy as they make him sometimes. But they're his family, and he's beyond grateful that he gets another chance to be with them, that their story didn't end here this time.

He _won't_ take it for granted.

"Thanks guys," Peter says, looking at them all. "And I'm really sorry I scared all of you."

"Yeah Quill," Rocket adds with a knowing look, voicing what the rest of the Guardians are thinking, "you cut it _way_ too close this time. For a minute there, we were pretty sure we lost you."

Peter closes his eyes again, thinking of what he had seen, and just how close he had almost come to leaving them forever. "Yeah, for a minute there, you did."

He opens his eyes again to see all of their imploring faces looking down at him, wondering what exactly he means. Peter squeezes Gamora's hand tightly again before he continues.

"By the way...Yondu says hi."


	2. Day Two: Stay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 2: Stay
> 
> For Peter and Gamora, the word stay has many different meanings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning, this one is a series of long loosely-connected drabbles that have both smut/sexy times and angst/hurt/comfort (because that's all I know how to write, apparently). Rated M.

For Peter and Gamora, the word _stay_ has many different meanings.

* * *

After Yondu's funeral, after the lights and the Ravagers and Nebula are gone...it's quiet.

_Too_ quiet.

The events of the last few days are weighing down heavily on everyone in the ship, but on Peter most of all.

His father, the person he'd dreamed his whole life of finding—had turned about to be the craziest megalomaniacal jerk in the entire galaxy. Literally.

And Peter had had to kill him, after he'd tried to kill his friends and the entire universe and admitted to _killing_ his mother…

And Ego was inadvertently the reason that Yondu, the dad he'd always had but never realized, had died, sacrificing himself to save _him_.

It's no wonder he can't sleep that night, only nightmarish images of the last few days flashing before his eyes everytime he closes them.

Yeah, he's not gonna get any sleep anytime soon.

He frowns as he sits up at the edge of the bed—Yondu's bed, as strange and yet familiar as it is to be staying in here—fiddling with the new music device that apparently Yondu had found for him.

He swallows thickly against another wave of guilt and grief at that, as he plays with the new music player—a Zune, Kraglin had called it—looking and hoping to find at least one familiar song from his ruined Walkman on it also.

Before he can even decide on a song, a light knocking on the door interrupts him.

Peter hastily wipes at his eyes, unaware that they'd even become wet, somehow, and clears his throat before he answers. "Uh, yeah, come in."

The door slides open silently, and Gamora pads silently into his dark room, carefully sliding the door shut behind her.

"Hi," she whispers into the room, as if she's afraid to speak any louder. She's been checking on him almost constantly since the funeral, which Peter appreciates more than he can even put into words right now.

"Hey," he whispers back, surprised at the hoarseness of his own voice.

When it becomes clear she isn't sure if she should come any further into the room, he motions for her to come over, casually patting the edge of the bed next to him.

Quietly, almost stealthily, Gamora moves through the room and comes to sit on the bed right next to him, their thighs nearly touching. He can feel her studying him silently, trying to assess his current state.

He's a mess, currently, but he doesn't see the point in trying to hide it from her. Not anymore.

"You're still awake," she observes quietly, a hint of worry in her tone. "Are you alright?"

"Can't sleep, ya know?" Peter sighs heavily, giving a half-hearted shrug and half-heartedly ignoring her question and turning it on her. "Why are _you_ awake?"

Gamora looks at him carefully. "I was worried...about you."

Peter is touched by her concern, really, but he tries to brush it off anyway. "I'm fine."

She raises an unconvinced eyebrow at him in the darkness. "Peter."

He sighs again, giving her a chagrined look. "Really, I'm fi…" he begins again, then thinks the better of it at the look she's giving him now. "Okay, okay...I'm not fine, exactly. But I will be."

He pauses, giving her a sad smile. "You being here helps."

It's almost comical, how surprised she looks, but then again Peter knows most of Gamora's life has been marked by pain, not comfort, especially when it comes to others. "It does?"

He nods quickly. "Oh, yeah. Definitely." Holding the Zune in one hand, he dares to reach over and take her other hand. She tenses for a moment, than visibly relaxes into his touch, weaving her fingers into his own with a soft smile.

It's only been a few hours, literally, since their unspoken thing became spoken, an acknowledged thing, and now they are on the edge of this, of something new, both a little unsure of what comes next.

"I'm glad," she replies softly, and he can hear the sincerity in her tone, at how touched she is that someone, that _he_, could actually need her.

They sit in comfortable silence for a moment in the darkness of his room, hand in hand, before she gestures at the Zune. "What's that?"

Peter looks at the device in his other hand, almost reverently, pulling it closer for her to see. "It's another music player, from Earth. Yondu, uh...he got it for me, a while back, apparently. Kraglin just gave it to me."

His throat becomes tight at the mention of Yondu, the wounds still too fresh, and he blinks forcefully against the tears springing back to his eyes.

Without words, Gamora moves even closer to him now, pressing up against his side. He leans into her, beyond grateful for her being here with him right now.

After a minute, Peter composes himself, and gestures with the Zune. "Wanna listen?"

"Yes," she answers without hesitation, "I would love that."

Peter nods in acknowledgement, and after somewhat clumsily offering her the other headphone and figuring out how the new device works—there's a sharp pang as he misses his Walkman—he settles on a new song and presses play.

They stay like that, side by side, for what must be hours, listening to the Zune. Gamora's head comes to rest on his shoulder, and he wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him. He's never letting go.

Finally, blissfully, the pull of tiredness and fatigue catch up with him, and he yawns.

Gamora sits up a little and looks at him. "You should get some sleep."

He nods absently, making to lay down on the bed, before he pauses, looking at her earnestly. "Will you stay?"

"Stay?" Gamora echoes, sounding surprised.

"Yeah," he exhales softly, catching her hand again and squeezing it. "I really don't wanna be alone...so stay here, with me. Please."

After a moment, Gamora nods, her face breaking into a soft, understanding smile. "Okay."

They settle down in the bed, wrapped in each other's arms, the Zune still playing between them.

Gamora stays with Peter that night, and never leaves.

* * *

Gamora is a morning person, Peter is not.

They find a compromise.

Gamora has had to be a morning person all her life, out of necessity, for survival, because sleeping in meant punishment or a knife in the back from a sibling that wanted to replace her as _favorite_.

It still makes her sick, to be the favorite—though now alienated—daughter of Thanos. It's a title she never wanted.

For Peter, however, growing up with the Ravagers, with late nights of stealing and boozing and women—morning is a relative term.

Gamora already knew this about him, in those first few months aboard the _Milano_, but once they started sharing a bed, she realized just how _much_ Peter likes to sleep in.

Of course, both of them are plagued by nightmares here and there where neither of them can sleep, but Gamora still wakes up first, regardless.

Every morning now, as she tries to quietly sneak out of bed, Peter will groggily wake up, because he's so used to sleeping with her in his arms now, and he'll try to convince her to stay.

"C'mon Gamora...jus' a few more minutes."

It doesn't work, at first, because Gamora is a creature of routine and her body mods don't allow for much sleep, anyways, or the need for it, at least.

But, as their relationship progresses and they start doing _more_ things than just sharing a bed...Peter finds a way to make her stay in bed a little longer.

Gamora really _really_ doesn't mind.

As it turns out...sleepy morning sex is one of her favorite kinds.

Well, having sex with Peter, now that that is something they do, is her favorite in general—and Peter's, without a doubt—but something about the simplicity of gentle intimacy first thing in the morning somehow makes it better.

It's something she's never been able to have in life, anything intimate or simple, to just enjoy and be enjoyed, and she appreciates it now more than she'd ever thought she could.

Gamora is already awake, staring up at the ceiling and just taking in a rare quiet moment on the ship. It's early in the day cycle, and no one else is awake yet, and she's relishing in the silence and Peter's warm body curled up next to hers. He's still fast asleep, curls in a disarray and an arm flung over her stomach, holding her close.

She can't help the fond smile that crosses her face as she watches him sleep, feeling a flood of love and affection come over her.

It's still amazing to her, that she can have all _this_. Love, and a family, that care about her—not what she can do—who make her be a better person, not just a weapon or a pawn in someone else's game.

Peter sees her for _her_, and for the first time since Thanos took her and destroyed her planet...she feels a semblance of being herself again, of the Gamora she had been forced to leave behind on Zen-Whoberi all those years ago.

Still smiling, she carefully reaches over and runs a hand through his hair. The reaction is instant.

Peter stirs, making a pleasant humming noise at her touch. He slowly blinks open his eyes, a sleepy smile on his face across from her on the pillow. "Hmm...hi."

Gamora smiles even wider, continuing her ministrations through his hair. "Hi."

He leans into her touch, blinking a few more times, still half-awake. "You're still in bed," he mutters sleepily, voice full of content. His arm around her waist tightens, as if he could actually keep her there.

Not that she wants to leave.

Gamora chuckles. "Yes. For now."

"Oh yeah?" Peter leans up a little to look at her, the sleepy look in his eyes quickly being replaced by something else. "Guess I better find a way to make you wanna stay then."

"I guess so," Gamora replies quietly, with a little anticipation.

Peter props himself up on his elbows, leans across the pillows, and kisses her.

The kiss is gentle at first, almost chaste, but Peter quickly deepens the kiss, parting her mouth more, and Gamora hums against him in contentment.

After a moment, Peter pulls back with a smug, sleepy smile, his voice husky. "Is it working?"

Gamora smiles as he leans over her, running her hand through his hair again and faking nonchalance. "I suppose."

"Hmm," Peter hums again, before he leans back down to start kissing down her neck. "_Suppose_ isn't good enough."

Gamora closes her eyes and sighs, stretching out on her back and enjoying the feeling of Peter's warm lips against her skin.

"How 'bout now?" he mutters against her collarbone between soft kisses.

Gamora opens one eye, barely able to hide her grin. "Getting closer."

"Nuh uh," Peter tsks quietly, "I want you to _want_ to stay in this bed."

He ducks his head back down to suck against the side of her neck, and Gamora can't hold back a quiet groan at the feeling. She can feel him smiling against her skin at that.

Gamora opens her mouth to say something back, but her train of thought is quickly derailed as she feels Peter's hand moving off her abdomen under the covers, moving down to play with the hem of her loose sleep shorts.

He hooks one finger underneath the edge of her shorts, rubbing back and forth against the sensitive skin there. Gamora shudders at his touch, body thrumming in anticipation of what's coming next.

"Doesn't seem like you wanna to get up now," he says against her ear, a tinge of both smugness and heat to his voice, but Gamora is enjoying this too much to care.

"Not if you keep doing that," she answers, breath hitching as he slowly moves his hand down inside of her shorts, pushes her underwear aside, and gently brushes his fingers against her clit.

She moans, body already responsive to his touch, and he swears quietly under his breath as his hand moves a little lower and discovers how ready she is for him already.

"_Good_ morning," Peter breathes against her as he leans in for another deep kiss, gently working her with first one finger, then another, his thumb rubbing slow, firm circles above.

Gamora moans again against his mouth, just melting into the bed and enjoying his touch, enjoying how her body is coming alive, nerve endings tingling _everywhere_.

Good morning indeed.

"Yes...it is," she pants against his lips as he pulls back for air.

Peter slowly removes his hand, but before Gamora can protest, he carefully works her shorts and underwear over her hips and down her legs, all while still under the covers.

Gamora gets a little greedier then, reaching over under the covers to grab at his boxer shorts, and Peter laughs quietly at her enthusiasm, helping her pull them the rest of the way off from the awkward angle.

Gamora is even more grateful he decided to sleep without a shirt on last night, running her hands over the muscles of his arms before moving over to his chest, feeling his body and loving how he reacts to her touch. He makes a deep, guttural noise at the back of his throat as she runs her hands all over his upper body, and she knows from experience how _much_ he likes it when she touches him, well, _anywhere_.

He leans down to nip gently at the junction of her neck and collarbone, finally free of his boxers. He pulls her towards him across the sheets, one strong arm around her waist. Gamora lets him, enjoying every moment, as he pulls her underneath him now, her hair splayed out wildly across their pillows.

Often, in bed, she likes to be the one in charge, in control—which Peter is more than okay with, wants nothing more than for her to be happy and _comfortable_ when they're together like this—but on quiet mornings like these, she is more than happy to let him take the lead.

"So, I guess you're staying then," Peter hums in satisfaction, carefully positioning himself over her. He slowly pushes her legs apart with his knees and settles in between them.

"I guess so," she whispers heavily, hooking her legs up around his waist, half-kicking some of the covers off.

Peter lines himself up against her, and she can feel how deliciously hard he is, teasing her a little as he rubs against the slick wetness—but he doesn't tease her long. This isn't what their morning routine is about.

He tilts his hips forward and she shudders in anticipation as he slowly, _finally_ starts sinking into her. Gamora sighs in relief as he pushes all of the way in, moving one of her legs up a little higher around his waist to pull him in even deeper, as he carefully balances on his other elbow to keep his full weight off of her.

They're face to face now, breathing heavily, and the sleepiness in Peter's eyes is gone now, replaced by want for her, and something more, something far deeper.

Love.

She knows the same look is reflected back in hers.

Then Peter rocks his hips forwards against her, and Gamora's eyes roll into the back of her head.

Peter's movements are slow, unhurried, just loving Gamora panting underneath him in the early morning quiet. He continues slow, steady thrusts, and Gamora rocks her hips up to meet him, soft, wet kisses peppered in between.

They don't talk much—because Gods knows how much Peter can talk in bed when it's the right mood—but in the stillness of the morning hours, only the sounds of their heavy breathing and the slight rocking of the bed can be heard.

It's peaceful, and wonderful, like it's only the two of them in the entire universe.

And after all, they have to be somewhat quiet, lest they risk waking up the rest of the Guardians at this early hour.

Peter starts kissing down the side of her face again, and her neck, his breath hot against her skin, and it makes her toes curl, the familiar heat already pooling in her abdomen. His movements are steady and deep inside her, and she loves being with him like this, the feeling of him filling her up completely, the feeling of being as close to him as she possibly can.

"Peter," she pants a breathy whisper against him, nipping at his ear. _"Peter."_

He makes a low noise at her words, almost a growl, visibly trying to force himself not to be too loud. He thrusts particularly deep as she pants his name, and Gamora clenches around him, gasping breathlessly at just how _good_ he feels.

His movements are controlled, almost gentle, but _so_ deep, and she throws her head back against the pillow, running her nails across his back, although lightly. She won't even leave a scratch, this time. She spreads her legs a little farther, wanting _more_ of him, wanting to feel him in every way possible, canting her hips up even farther to give him even more access.

Peter shudders above her as she keeps running her hands over his back, and with his free hand he pushes one leg up farther towards her chest, continuing his steady pace, moving at an even deeper angle now.

Gamora sees stars, her breath hitching, and she's so _so_ close, about to fall over the edge.

And Peter knows it, is barely hanging on himself, determined to hold his steady rhythm and get her there first.

He dips his head down, sucking along her collarbone, and one hand comes up to cup one of her breasts, pushing her tank top out of the way while still increasing his rhythm, his thumb expertly swiping over her nipple. It only adds to the intensity of everything she's feeling, and another breathy groan escapes her lips. Her eyes are closed now, and she's almost there, just teetering on the edge of ecstasy…

And then Peter pulls out fully and thrusts all of the way back in, one, two times, so smooth and _deep_, and that's what does it.

Gamora loses herself, the waves of pleasure crashing over her, and she has to bite down on Peter's shoulder to keep from crying out and waking the others.

His hips start stuttering against her as he tries to ride through her aftershocks, but he follows right behind her, burying his face in her hair as he tries to stifle his own groans.

Peter catches himself on his elbows above her, still panting, his face buried in the crook of her neck for a moment as they both come back down. Gamora wraps her arms around his shoulders, hugging him close, both of their sweaty chests pressing together. Peter doesn't mind. Either does she. He nuzzles her neck as they catch their breath, and she turns to plant a tender kiss on the side of his head.

After a moment, he finally pulls his head back up to look at her, eyes shining bright with a goofy, warm grin, his hair mussed from sleep and sex.

Gamora has never loved looking at anything more.

She reaches a hand up to cup his chin, pulling him down for a long, deep kiss. He moans again against her lips, until she finally pulls back against the pillows to break it.

Almost reluctantly, Peter moves over and collapses back into the bed next to her, one arm wrapped back around her waist and one leg draped over her thigh. The covers and sheets are in a disarray now, but neither of them seem to mind.

He looks over at her, a love drunk smile on his face, reaching over and tenderly brushing some hair back from her forehead. "Still want to get outta bed?"

Gamora smiles. "I guess I can stay a little longer."

She stays the rest of the morning in bed, Peter's arms wrapped around her.

* * *

_"Peter! Stay with me! Open your eyes! Peter!"_

She's losing him.

This can't be real this can't be happening…

Her hands are shaking now, even as she tries to stem the blood flow, pushing down on his chest with a mad desperation.

It isn't working.

Gamora shakes her head as she squares her shoulders, trying to center herself, pressing down even harder on his chest in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. It should hurt, from the amount of force she is using, but he doesn't react, doesn't try to move away from her, and her heart sinks, as she tries to block out what the logical part of her mind is trying to tell her.

_He's going to die._

She knows too much, has seen too many battle wounds, has _caused_ too many battle wounds herself, to truly believe that he is actually surviving this...but yet she refuses to believe that it's true.

Her eyes finally meet his, and she knows he can see the fear behind the icy determination that she's trying to hide. She can barely control the waver in her voice as she speaks. "You're going to be fine, do you hear me? Just _stay_ awake."

Peter swallows thickly, around the blood already pooling in his mouth, and gives her a sad, knowing look. She could kill him for it.

"...Gamora."

"You're going to be _fine_," she repeats, through gritted teeth, subconsciously pushing down even harder against his chest, as if it will make a difference, even though subconsciously she knows it's already too late.

_No no no nonono…._

The rest of the Guardians were almost to them now, realizing something had happened, but they were still busy holding off the remaining Kree soldiers who were firing in their direction.

"Rocket, Drax, get here _now_!" Gamora screams into the comms, almost hysterically, but she can barely hear their panicked curses and shouts in answer as she turns her attention back to Peter. She can't move him very far like this, not unless she wants him to bleed out faster. She needs the _Benatar's_ medbay and its supplies to keep him alive until they can reach Xandar or any other planetary hospital.

This was supposed to be an easy job, but there was an ambush, and unaccounted for civilians...and Peter taking a hit meant for _her_.

She'll never stop destroying the things she loves, she thinks miserably in the back of her mind. This is her fault, Thanos had been right all along, she doesn't deserve love, not like this…

And now the universe is taking it from her. She doesn't think she'll survive it.

"You just need to hold on until the others get here with the ship," she hears herself say, almost on autopilot, despite the facts painfully on display in front of her. She knows she is in deep denial right now, but she doesn't care. "You'll be fine once we get you to Xandar."

But Peter _knows_, he knows how bad it is, as he lays there, bleeding out in her arms. He looks guilty, maybe even regretful, from the pained look on his face. She desperately wants to reassure him that everything is okay, even thought it's not, not by a long shot, as life slips further from his grasp.

Gamora can feel the pool of blood steadily growing underneath him, soaking into her leather pants, as she continues uselessly to try and stop it, because she _can't_ lose him, she can't...

"'Mora," Peter says quietly then, voice strained from the effort of just talking, and her eyes finally move back from his wound to look at him. "Y-you know that's not...not g'nna happen."

"_No,"_ she shakes her head fiercely at his words, still refusing to accept it, refusing to believe she is losing him for good. "No, you're going to be okay, Peter. You just need to hold on a little bit longer."

It's a lie, and they both know it.

Gamora has never hated anything more. She feels like she's drowning, the pressure so heavy on her chest she can barely breathe.

She blinks back tears forcefully, hitting the comm and screaming again, her voice cracking against her will this time. "Rocket, Drax, Groot, Mantis! Get here now! Peter is dy…"

She chokes off with an angry sob, trying not to hurl the comm link across the dusty ground at the static feedback she gets this time. There's still rampant gunfire in the distance, and she knows the Guardians are desperately trying to get to them...but it won't be in time.

She looks back down at Peter, pushing even more forcefully on his chest. "_Stay_ with me."

"Gamora, it's...it's ok'y," Peter coughs, more blood flecking his lips. "Doesn't...hurt."

There is a sharp, heart breaking silence that falls between them, because they both know what that means, with a heavy, certain finality.

Gamora forgets how to breathe.

"No," she finally manages, broken voice breaking the silence, "Peter, _no_."

Peter looks up at her, and he's blinking back tears now at the stricken look on her face. "...'m sorry, 'Mora..."

Gamora wants to scream, to beg, to trade with any entity in the universe not to take Peter from her, not him, anyone but _him_…

This is what she deserves. She doomed him the minute she met him.

She wishes she could die too.

Peter swallows thickly, his eyes becoming more glazed and unfocused, and Gamora doesn't know if he even sees her anymore. There is a clear, painful rattle in his chest every time he breathes, as much as she wishes she couldn't hear it.

Time is running out.

"Of all th'...ways t'go... Peter continues shakily, fighting for each breath now, "t-this isn't th't bad..."

"Peter," she gasps, tears filling her eyes, "this is _not_ okay, how could you even think that?"

He looks up to meet her broken gaze, his voice barely more than a whisper from exertion of still trying to talk. "B'cause...you're h're."

That's what breaks Gamora, and she chokes back a sob, shaking her head as the tears she can no longer hold back finally come. "Peter, no, _please_..."

"I l've you, G'mora," Peter coughs weakly, and he's trying to focus on her face even as his eyes keep fluttering now, gaze glassy and unfocused.

"Peter...I love you," Gamora shakes her head, her body shaking with sobs now as she holds him close. "Peter, no, don't…"

"...i-it's okay," he whispers again. He's trying to be brave, even though Gamora knows he's afraid…he isn't ready to die. Not now. Not like this. Not after everything they've been through.

"You'll b'okay…"

He's afraid of dying and leaving her _alone_.

Peter is fighting harder and harder for each remaining breath, his eyes closing and then opening again every few seconds, like a jolt going through his body, as he tries to stay with her, tries to fight against the invisible force pulling him away.

Gamora desperately tries the comms one last time. "Rocket! Anyone! We need _help..._!"

But Peter can't fight it anymore, and his eyes finally slip closed.

Gamora's world falls apart.

In the distance, it sounds like there's a ship closing in, but she feels like she's having an out-of-body experience, everything fuzzy and far away, like she's underwater. She can just barely make out the cries of the other Guardians in the background, coming closer with every second, but she can't move, can't react, can't answer them now. She thinks she hears someone screaming.

She distantly realizes that the anguished sound is coming from her.

"_Peter!"_

* * *

"Gamora, hey, stay with me here! You know us! You know _me_!"

Peter holds up his hands in a placating manner, but the cold, empty eyes in front of him show no sign of recognition.

Just the eyes of a cold-blooded killer.

But Peter knows she's still in there, regardless of what Nova Corps or the Avengers say.

He knows even the rest of the Guardians are starting to have doubts, but they're standing by Gamora anyways, in Peter's _belief_ in Gamora.

Even if a failsafe Thanos had implanted in her brain—should he ever need her complicit cooperation, apparently—is now controlling her mind, he knows Gamora, _his_ Gamora, is still in there.

He refuses to believe otherwise, even if everyone else pretty much has, refuses to give up hope she can be saved, because he knows Gamora can beat this, that he can get _her_ back—because he's not losing her again, damn it—if he can just get her to talk to him without killing him first.

Which turns out to be a lot easier said than done.

Gamora marches towards him, Godslayer raised menacingly in his direction, and Peter swallows thickly, taking a cautious step back.

"You don't wanna do this," he tries again, still holding up his hands in surrender, blasters still at his hips. He'll never be able to raise his gun at her again, not even now, not after Knowhere.

"Move," Gamora growls, although it barely sounds like her, stilted and threatening, "or die."

Peter shakes his head. Rocket is right, he does have a death wish, more often than not. But when it comes to Gamora, there isn't anything he wouldn't do, including die for her.

He's technically already died before, anyways.

He's just really hoping that _she_ isn't the one that kills him. He knows she won't be able to live with that once she regains control of her mind.

Thanos. That big purple bastard. He might finally be dead and gone, but Peter wants to bring him back just to kill him _again_, for this. For doing this to Gamora, even after he's gone, when she's already been through so much. She didn't come back from freaking death and a different freaking timeline and finally merge her memories of her life before only to have it all end like _this_.

It was miracle enough they'd been able to retrieve her memories from the Soul Stone. They just hadn't counted on Thanos having one last move...controlling Gamora from beyond the grave.

"Come on, Gamora, just wait a minute," Peter tries again, with the most soothing tone he can muster, "think about what you're doing here. This isn't you. This is just Thanos in your head."

"Don't speak of him!" Gamora snarls, and she suddenly marches forward, eyes blazing. Peter stupidly holds his ground, and she throws him backwards violently against the vault door of Stark's Tower...where the time machine and the particles to go back and retrieve the stones _again_ are currently stored.

Thanos may have failed in his mission to eradicate half the universe—well succeeded and then failed, anyways—but he'd left behind one last trick.

By implanting the mind control in Gamora's head, he'd left behind one last chance that his plan would still succeed, with his favorite daughter carrying out his plans instead.

Peter lands hard against the vault door with a pained thud, seeing stars as the wind is knocked out of him, and he definitely feels a rib crack because Gamora is _strong_.

He grits his teeth and somehow remains on his feet, leaning heavily against the door as she descends on him again.

_"Quill, man, I'm sorry, we gotta move now,"_ Falcon, aka the new Captain America, apparently, says suddenly in his ear._ "You're not gonna be able to hold her, and we can't let her get inside." _

_"No, not yet! Give 'im more time!"_ Rocket counters back across the comms.

"_I've got position,"_ Barton says from somewhere up above. _"What's our move?"_

"_Peter can stop her!" _Mantis adds in frantically. _"He's the only one who can!"_

"_Hawkeye, if you have a clear sight...you know what to do," _Falcon's voice comes wearily over the line. _"We can't let her get that machine."_

"No! No, I can do this," Peter snaps into the comms, gritting his teeth. He straightens up more as Gamora closes in. "Don't shoot!"

"_Barton,"_ Falcon barks into the comms again, _"take the shot."_

"_No you bastards! Just wait a minute!"_ Rocket argues.

"_With all due respect, sir,"_ Barton replies, sounding more than a little cynical, _"that big purple grape took enough lives of people we care about. I, for one, am going to see if Quill can actually pull this off."_

Peter is so beyond grateful for Barton taking his side, at giving him some more time, that he tunes out the rest of the arguing over the comms as Gamora makes her move.

"Last chance," she bites out as she aims her sword at him, but he can see the internal conflict raging in her, her movements stiff and slower than normal, because deep down he knows that Gamora doesn't want to do this, that she's desperately fighting back to regain control of her mind.

"Gamora, I know you're in there," Peter says, and against all clear judgment he takes a step towards her. "I _know_ you're in there, I know you're fighting back. Keep fighting, baby, you can do this. Just stay with me, just listen to my voice, okay? Don't let Thanos win."

"Stop talking!" Gamora screams at him, but she hesitates for a moment, shaking her head, and Peter swears that he sees his Gamora there, in her eyes, just for a second.

But the very next second her hands are around his throat.

Gamora grabs him by the neck and hoists him up, one handed, slamming him up against the vault door—the last thing between them and her getting to the time machine.

Peter can barely breathe as she tightens her grip on him, let alone talk, but he somehow manages to give the others the signal not to intervene, gesturing with his hands as he gasps for air. "...Gamora..._stay_ with me...I know you're in there..."

"No, your Gamora is gone," Gamora snarls, but he hears just the slightest hesitancy in her tone, and that gives him all the hope he needs.

"What Thanos...did to you," he rasps, closing his eyes as she tightens her grip on his neck, "wasn't...love. I-I love you, 'Mora...more than anything."

As much as it pains him to say those words again...he knows it's the phrase she needs to hear.

With a cry of frustration, Gamora lets go, dropping him to his knees by the door. He wheezes for a minute, rubbing at his neck, before he scrambles back to his feet to face her again.

Gamora is standing in front of him, frozen now, her body rigid and shaking. She shakes her head again, clutching at it with her free hand as she holds Godslayer in the other. She's clearly fighting an internal struggle, he can see her trying to regain control of her mind, of _herself_.

After a moment, she snaps her head back up to look at him, a look of pain and confusion on her face. "...Peter?"

"Yeah, it's me, Gamora," he says gently, not wanting to startle her, even though his heart is soaring because this is definitely _Gamora_ that he's talking to now, not the mindless killing machine they've been chasing around the galaxy for the past few days. "That's it, you've got this. Just stay calm, okay?"

"No, s-stay back," she takes a step away from him, shaking her head again, tears in her eyes. "I'm not...I'm not in control..."

"It's okay," Peter soothes her, still taking another small step towards her. "You can beat this, I know you can. Just keep talking to me, keep listening to my voice. You can do this, Gamora."

"No, stay away! I'll hurt you," she cries out, whole body trembling now. "Stay away, Peter, please..."

Peter's heart breaks at the desperation in her voice, but he could never stay away from her, even if he wanted to. "I'm not going anywhere, Gamora. I'm staying right here."

"I can't...I can't hold it much longer," Gamora sounds desperate, pleading, and she collapses to her knees, clutching at her head again.

It takes everything in Peter's willpower to not rush to her side, but he knows he has to move slowly, because Gamora isn't fully in control, not yet.

"Gamora, you're gonna be okay, promise," he says, taking another cautious step towards where she is all but collapsed on her knees on the ground now. "We're gonna figure this out."

Suddenly, Gamora's head snaps back up, and Peter freezes in his tracks, because just like that...the person staring back at him isn't the woman he loves.

And he just so happens to be directly in front of her now.

"You fool," the monster looking at him with Gamora's face growls, and before Peter can move or even react...she grabs her sword and _stabs_ him with it.

Peter makes a pained noise of surprise as Gamora sinks the blade into his left shoulder, piercing through his leather jacket and his skin as if it's nothing. She runs him all the way through, before stabbing the sword into the door frame of the vault, effectively pinning him there like a human pincushion.

"_Quill! Hang tight we're comin'!" _Rocket yells into the comms as they realize things are going bad, fast, and that Peter isn't going to be able to stop her, let alone make it out of this encounter alive.

"_We gotta move now, everybody go!"_ Falcon orders immediately afterwards.

Despite the amount of pain he is in, with a sword running completely through his shoulder, Peter forces himself stay clear-headed and manages to answer. "No, no, stop! Just wait..."

Gamora is still in front of him, hand still on the hilt of her sword, and this closely he can see the wild look in her eyes, can see that she's still in there, fighting to regain control again.

He knows she is, because if she wasn't, he'd be dead right now. Honestly, as far as stab wounds go, this isn't that bad. He's had worse, actually. It's through the meaty part of his shoulder and didn't even hit a main artery. He's definitely bleeding heavily and getting light-headed from pain and blood loss, but he's still alive and that speaks volumes considering the amount of damage Gamora can—and has—done before.

He can see the internal conflict in her eyes up close, and he knows there's still hope, that he can get through to her, refuses to believe anything else. With that belief, he goes for one last strategy, one last way to bring Gamora back to herself.

He sings.

"A-ain't no mountain high enough...ain't no valley low enough..."

"_You've gotta be flarkin' kidding me,"_ Rocket sighs in his ear.

"_Is he...is he singing?"_ Falcon asks in disbelief through the comms.

"_I am Groot,"_ Groot clarifies.

"_A useful strategy that Quill often uses instead of fighting!"_ Drax adds with a hint of pride.

"_I don't know, I sort of like his style,"_ Barton says with a disbelieving laugh.

"_This might be the most insane thing I've ever seen...and that's coming from me,"_ Bucky adds in.

Peter tunes them all out, focused solely on Gamora. This was one of their songs, and he knows, he _knows_ he can get through to her.

"Ain't no river wide enough...to keep me from getting to you babe..."

Gamora freezes, shaking her head violently again, and she steps away from him with a pained cry, collapsing to the ground as she clutches her head with both hands, whole body trembling as she fights back against the force controlling her mind.

Peter can't move, can't go to her, still pinned by the sword to the door, but it doesn't stop him from singing the song, softly belting all the lyrics as he tries to bring Gamora back to him.

She's screaming now, grabbing the sides of her head, and Peter _hates_ seeing her in pain, more than anything else, but he keeps singing, knows that it's working as she writhes on the ground, fighting the demon in her head.

After a moment, she finally looks back up at him, and he abruptly stops singing, waiting with baited breath to see if it worked.

He's beyond relieved when it's Gamora's eyes staring back at him, full of pain and confusion...but it's _her_.

"_Well, I'll be damned," _Falcon murmurs into the comms. _"Okay, team, stand down. And we need a medical unit, stat!" _

Gamora looks up at Peter, looking completely disoriented as she finally regains control of her mind.

"...what? Peter?" she murmurs. Her eyes land on him, and she finally registers what she's seeing, with him pinned to the door with Godslayer through his shoulder. Her eyes widen in horror. "Peter!"

She's on her feet in an instant, albeit unsteadily, and rushes to his side. "Oh God, Peter, I'm so sorry, I didn't...I tried...I _couldn't_ stop it..."

"Gamora, it's okay," Peter interrupts, trying to reassure her. "It's just a through-and-through, it's not that bad! I'll be okay, promise."

"I'm sorry, Peter, I'm so so sorry," tears are streaming down her face now, her voice full of guilt and sadness, and she's shaking like a leaf, reaching towards him and then pulling back, afraid to touch him and somehow cause him even more harm. "I, I would _never_..."

Peter knows Gamora would never hurt him, knows that even though he currently as her sword runnning through him, that he's only alive because at some subconscious level she fought back against the mind control device implanted in her brain.

With his uninjured arm, he reaches up to cup her face, gently wiping the tears away with his thumb, tilting her chin up to make her look at him. "'Mora, it's okay, this wasn't your fault, you weren't in control. This wasn't you."

She nods against his hand, just crying harder, as the rest of the Guardians and Avengers finally arrive, a medical team in tow to tend to Peter's shoulder.

"It's okay, it's all over now," he whispers gently to her, and she finally relents and comes closer to him, and he presses a kiss against her forehead. "It's okay, Gamora, we're both okay."

Later that night in bed, with a bandage on one shoulder and Gamora on the other, Peter silently thanks the universe that they get yet another chance to be together.

* * *

Gamora looks around the suite at Nova Corps, at the beautiful, clean surroundings, and frowns.

She doesn't belong here.

It's only been a few days since they defeated Ronan and saved Xandar from pure destruction and extinction, and the grateful Nova Prime and Xandarian people have put Gamora and the rest of her new-found friends—the Guardians of the Galaxy, everyone is calling them, apparently—up in their nicest accommodations, while they promised to furnish them with a new ship as a sign of their gratitude.

Gamora doesn't think she deserves it, doesn't know how to handle everyone looking at her like a _hero_, when she knows she is anything but.

She is a warrior, and assassin, and the favorite daughter of a genocidal maniac, and everyone knows it. She can't be a hero, not with everything she's done.

She needs to leave.

Gamora starts to pack, even though she has meager belongings to speak of. She hadn't really had anything of her own living on _Sanctuary II, _and anything else she'd acquired had been destroyed on Quill's ship when it went down inside of Ronan's ship.

Still, she has a few new clothes and some units from Nova Corps, and that's all she really needs, anyways.

Best she leave tonight, before they all meet at Nova Headquarters tomorrow with Nova Prime, who apparently has some big reward for them. Better that she leaves now, and leave that to the others. They deserve it, not her.

She's better off on her own, anyways. Just like she had originally planned to be when she'd taken the orb and betrayed Ronan and Thanos.

Just as she's made up her mind, there's a soft knocking on her door. She frowns, because it's late, but she can already tell who it is with her enhanced hearing before she even opens the door. She hits the button on the wall, and the door slides open with a soft whoosh.

Peter Quill is standing there, a warm smile on his face, hands shoved in the pockets of the new leather coat that Nova Corps had fashioned for him after his Ravager jacket was destroyed in the aftermath of Ronan. She just stares at him, wondering what in the world he is doing at her door, and raises her eyebrows in silent questioning.

At her cool reaction, his confident smile quickly becomes sheepish, and she is surprised at the pang of guilt that causes her, sharp and unexpected. He gestures widely with his hands as he talks, and Gamora notices that he still has a bandage wound tightly around the hand he held the Infinity Stone with, and she feels a pang of concern.

"Uh, hey," Quill begins, "I, uh, just wanted to check in."

Gamora furrows her brows at him curiously. "Check in? On me?"

"Well, yeah," he nods slowly, shifting nervously from one foot to the other, and Gamora finds that way more endearing than she should. "You didn't come to dinner, and you've been just sorta hangin' out in here all day."

Gamora is surprised at his perceptiveness, because he clearly knows something is happening with her, or else he wouldn't be here at her door right now, at this late hour. Still, she lies to him. It's better to have a clean break, after all. "I'm fine, Quill. Thank you for 'checking in', but I am alright."

"Okay, well, that's good," Quill shrugs, but his eyes are looking somewhere past her head, and she silently curses herself for leaving the small bag out in view on her bed, clearly packed and ready to go. "So, is there any reason why you've got a packed bag, if everything is 'alright'?"

Gamora isn't nearly as quick on her feet with words, not like he has shown himself to be—she's better with weapons, not words—and she fumbles for an answer. "That's uh, that's nothing. None of your concern."

Quill frowns heavily, still leaning against her doorway. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

Gamora shakes her head quickly, but she's never been a good liar. "No, I'm not."

His expression softens at her denial. "Gamora, c'mon. You don't have to do that. We're friends now, remember?"

Friends. It's a new, frightening concept to Gamora. Her whole life has been surrounded by so-called siblings who'd rather stab her than love her—with the exception of Nebula, but even she hates her now—and she isn't sure how to handle that, to handle _this_.

"I'm not a good friend," she finally answers, not really knowing what else to say. She's startled when Quill laughs, a real smile on his face once again.

She hates that she likes when he smiles, and quickly pushes that thought from her head.

"Gamora," Quill is still smiling, _"none_ of you guys are good at bein' friends, not even close. But you will be. That's what I'm here for."

She furrows her brows at him. "You?"

He nods at that. "Yeah, me. C'mon, all of us have only known each other a few days, and we went from tryin' to kill each other to saving a whole planet from some manic Kree. If that isn't the start of a beautiful friendship, I don't know what is."

Gamora just blinks at him, because what he just said sounds _ridiculous_. "Quill, that doesn't make any sense."

He somehow remains undeterred by her skepticism. "Sure it does! We've all been on our own, or runnin' from a life we didn't want, and somehow, we all ended up together. And after what we managed to pull off, and actually work together as a team, as friends, that has to _mean_ something, ya know? I think this whole Guardians thing could be the real deal. So do the others."

Gamora starts at this, because while she wants to deny what he's saying, knowing she doesn't belong, she _so_ badly wants to be a part of this. "And everyone else...they want me to be a part of this 'team', as well?"

"Of course they do!" Quill answers, a little too enthusiastically. Seeing her stoic reaction, he quickly tones it down. "I mean, we would all like for you to stay. To be a part of the Guardians of the Galaxy with us."

Gamora has never been so touched by anything in her life. She's never been able to just belong, to just be included without having to fight and kill her way to the top. Maybe this is the chance she's been looking for. Maybe this is her chance to do something good, to make use of her escape from Thanos' clutches.

This might be her chance to find real friends, maybe even a family. She can't walk away from the opportunity.

"Gamora?" Quill questions, and she realizes she's been silent for far too long. "So, whaddaya think? Are you going to stay?"

Gamora smiles. "I'm staying."


	3. Day 3: Lost / Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 3 - Lost / Found:  
Thanos discovers Gamora's biggest weakness and decides to use it against her. 
> 
> Unfortunately that weakness happens to be Peter Quill.
> 
> ————
> 
> "That's why, when you left me all those years ago, I allowed it."
> 
> "...You allowed it?"
> 
> "You haven't been under the impression you escaped."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh late entry! Oops.
> 
> So, THAT quote from the Infinity War deleted scene—because why DIDN'T Thanos ever come after Gamora before then?—paired with parts of an old unfinished GOTG fic of mine, are what inspired this one.
> 
> This could be seen as an Infinity War AU (I even borrowed some dialogue) or divergent of the events of IW more or less, I'll leave that interpretation up to you. Either way...prepare yourself for this one.
> 
> The next one WILL be happy and fluffy, promise!
> 
> And thanks for all of the support so far! 
> 
> Heavy angst and H/C warning ahead

Gamora has lost so much in her life, since Thanos destroyed her planet and took her and her freedom.

But she's finally found something, found a family, found herself, with Peter and the Guardians.

She's finally found _hope_.

But as long as Thanos is still around...hope is just as easily lost again.

* * *

"Okay_ a-holes, is everybody ready to get outta here?"_

_"Quill, we've been ready since you took this crap job on this crap planet."_

_"Yeah right, this was not a crap job. This was an easy gig, and Nova Corps paid us an insane amount for this!"_

_"This mission was not exciting. There was no one to stab."_

_"Oh, I agree with Drax! It was quite boring."_

_"C'mon guys, we helped the refugees here, this was just a supply run and a security check! There wasn't supposed to be any stabbing."_

_"I am Groot."_

_"Seriously? I find us the easiest gig with the most money and all you guys can say is…"_

_"Doesn't mean it didn't suck, Quill. We got this gig 'cause no one else wanted it. We're the freakin' Guardians of the Galaxy, not just some supply runners on some backwater planet in some back Quadrant nobody wants to come to."_

"Enough," Gamora grumbles into her comm unit, even though she's smiling at the familiar banter in her ear. "This job wasn't terrible, Peter. I'm glad we accepted it."

There's simultaneous groans over the line and what must be a fake gagging sound from Rocket.

_"Thanks, Gamora,"_ Peter says with a hint of pride, and she can just imagine the look on his face, from the other side of the refugee compound where he'd been completing one last perimeter security check.

_"Ugh, is this how every mission is gotta be with you two?"_ Rocket grumbles, for no less than the hundredth time since Peter and Gamora have been together over the last four years._ "Get your own private line for that crap, will ya?"_

Gamora can't help but laugh, shaking her head even though no one can see it, as she walks over the rocky ground, the _Benatar_ finally coming into view ahead. In her peripheral, she can see Groot and Rocket are approaching too, and apparently Mantis and Drax have already returned to the ship, standing just inside the gangway.

Now they just have to wait for Peter, who is still on the far side of the refugee complex.

_"Whatever, you're just mad because Gamora's right, as always,"_ Peter snarks back.

"I am Groot," Groot, a sullen teenager now, grumbles in response, and Gamora can see the sour look on his face as he approaches, Rocket in tow.

_"But if you had your own line, that would not be feasible during missions,"_ Drax adds, but Gamora is close enough to him now that she can hear his voice echo across the rocky field directly to her. _"We would not be able to hear you."_

_"Duh, that's the point,"_ Rocket grouses.

_"I, for one, happen to know that you guys all love listening to Gamora and I…"_ Peter begins to say, before he cuts off suddenly. _"Wait a second...now that's weird."_

Suddenly, all of Gamora's senses are on high alert. Something is wrong.

"Peter? What is it?"

She reaches the ship just as Groot and Rocket do, and they gather next to Drax and Mantis, looking at each other in concern.

_"I, uh,"_ Peter continues, sounding unsure, _"I don't think we're the only ones here."_

"Quill, whaddaya talkin' about?" Rocket asks him, fuzzy brows furrowed. "Like Nova Corps sent us some back-up that we didn't need?"

Peter doesn't answer right away, and Gamora's feeling of dread raises up a notch. "Peter? What's going on?"

_"No,"_ he answers slowly over the line,_ "no, this ship definitely isn't Nova Corps. And I don't know how we missed it back here this whole time we've been here."_

"Oh, perhaps it has not been here the whole time," Mantis offers helpfully. "Perhaps it just arrived now."

_"Yeah,"_ Peter huffs a sigh,_ "yeah, that's what I'm afraid of."_

Gamora's heart beat picks up, and she draws her sword. "Peter, hold on, we're coming to you."

"Yeah Quill, just sit tight, we'll be right there," Rocket sighs, clearly unhappy to be stuck on this desolate planet a minute longer, knowing their job isn't quite done.

There's some rustling over the line, like Peter is moving now, and then some static feedback in all their ears.

Gamora starts walking quickly back in the direction of the refugee camp, the rest of the Guardians hot on her heels, sensing that something is about to happen.

Someone else is here, that isn't supposed to be, and they don't know who or why. And they can't leave, until they know that the refugees are safe from any outside forces.

"Peter?" she asks briskly into the comms as they head to where he was finishing the perimeter check on the back side of the camp.

There's more static for a moment, before Peter's voice suddenly breaks back through.

_"...oh God."_

Gamora's breath catches in her throat at the panicked tone of his voice, as she and the other Guardians break into a dead run, because there's no question now that it's something serious.

"Quill! Talk to us! What's going on?" Rocket demands as they hurry as fast as they can to Peter's location.

"I am Groot!" Groot adds, sounding panicked now and no longer like an indifferent teenager.

There's loud static and definite sounds of a struggle over the line now, and Gamora runs even faster, leaving the others behind.

She has to get to Peter.

His voice comes over the line again, breathless and desperate, and it's almost enough to make her stop in her tracks.

_"-o, no...-et out of here...all of...you...go! Now!"_

Gamora is running faster than she ever has before, body pumping with exertion, her heart in her throat. "Peter!"

His panicked shouts come through the comms one last time. _"No...Gamora...go!"_

And then the line goes dead.

* * *

Peter is missing.

The time since he's been taken feels like an eternity. Gamora doesn't think time has ever moved this slow before.

There is still no sign, no clues, no idea to his whereabouts—or what condition he is in—much less who actually took him to begin with.

By the time they had reached the far side of the refugee compound that Peter had been at, he was gone, only a few dust trails any evidence at all that a ship had even been there.

And no one had seen anything, and they had nothing to go on…so whoever had done this had been _prepared_ to do it. They had known about this mission somehow, and that the Guardians were going to be out here, in the far reaches of the galaxy.

Whoever they were...they had been _waiting_ for Peter, without a doubt.

The tension on the _Benatar_ is steadily rising between the Guardians as they try to figure out where to even begin looking for their missing captain, everyone on edge without Peter's easy presence to keep them together.

"C'mon Dey, give us something here," Rocket can barely hide the desperation in his voice when Dey calls with a report from the Nova Corps search parties aiding in their search for Peter.

"Look, I'm sorry guys," Dey sighs in resignation, barely able to look the rest of the Guardians in the eye as they gather around the holo screen. "But there have been no signs of Quill on our end either. No ransom demands, no threats of violence or celebrations of victory from any of our sources around the galaxy. Absolutely nothing. Honestly, it's a little weird."

Gamora feels her hands clenching into fists at her side, trying to keep herself calm. She hasn't been able to sleep since Peter was taken, and she's dangerously on edge.

They _have_ to find him.

"There must be someone out there who knows who wanted to do this," Drax crosses his arms menacingly over his chest as he stares hard at the screen. "This attack was far too strategically planned for it to be random."

"Yeah, I agree," Dey sighs, running a hand haphazardly through his curly locks as he looks at them. "But whoever it was, they didn't even want to make a spectacle over taking Quill, much less not advertising where they took him or even why."

"So why do it then?" Gamora says hoarsely, barely realizing she'd even spoken. She steps closer to the screen and holds Dey's gaze steadily. "Why even bother to follow us on this mission, wait for an opportunity to get Peter alone, and take him at all, if not for some other purpose?"

That was the question that they hadn't been able to answer at all. Whoever took Peter wasn't bragging or threatening or doing anything, now that they had him. They'd just taken him and simply disappeared. It didn't make _any_ sense.

"I wish I knew," Dey shrugs helplessly, as much at a loss as they are. "Honestly, as much notoriety as you have all gotten over the years, I can't believe that whoever took Quill _isn't_ wanting to broadcast that to the entire galaxy."

"I am Groot," Groot asks suddenly, as Rocket turns to look up at him.

"Of course we already thought about the Kree purists and the Sovereign," Rocket sighs heavily. "But according to Dey's sources, they don't have 'im either."

"Not as far as we can tell," Dey adds then with a nod, "but we'll keep an eye out on all of them for now, just in case."

"Thank you, Dey," Gamora replies quietly, trying desperately not to feel hopeless that their own combined efforts with the Nova Corps had still turned up no sign of Peter or who was behind the ambush.

It was supposed to be a simple job.

They never are.

"Well, I promise as soon as I hear anything, I'll contact you immediately," Dey replies, giving them a wan smile.

"Yeah, likewise," Rocket grumbles dejectedly, giving him a stiff nod through the screen.

"Thank you for your continued allegiance with us in finding Peter Quill, Denarian Dey," Drax adds then.

"We are so very glad for your help," Mantis says softly, but earnestly. She hasn't been saying much since Peter was taken, apparently too overwhelmed by all of the team's collective emotions.

Dey smiles. "Of course. Hopefully something turns up soon. We won't stop looking until we find him." With that, he ends the call.

A long, heavy silence falls between the Guardians as they realize that they are no closer to finding Peter then the day of the ambush by the refugee compound…and time is rapidly running out.

"I am Groot," Groot adds hopefully then, trying to break the quiet, his video game untouched in his lap. He's barely played it since Peter's been gone.

"Well yeah of _course_ we all hope that we find that d'ast idiot soon!" Rocket snaps at him, but then immediately looks apologetic.

"Ah, hell, I'm sorry Groot, just this whole thing with Quill being nabbed has me a little on edge, ya know?"

"I am Groot," the teen replies in a hurt tone, but nods, while pretending to play with his game.

They are all worried about Peter, and desperate to get him back.

"Damn it, _where_ is he?!" Gamora suddenly slams her hands down with more force than necessary on the console as the combined feelings of frustration and fear wash over her, causing the other Guardians to jump at her uncharacteristic outburst. They had been happening more and more lately since Peter had been taken, as days went by and they were still not any closer to finding him. "Why hasn't there been _any_ sign of him?"

"Whoever has him is making us wait," Drax adds solemnly then, and Gamora could punch him for being so dense.

"Yeah, we already know that, moron!" Rocket bares his teeth in frustration. "That's already pretty frickin' obvious!"

"Please don't fight," Mantis murmurs sadly from behind them, as their strained emotions continue rising.

"You do not understand," Drax starts again patiently, but it's clear he's growing frustrated too.

"No, _you_ don't understand!" Rocket snaps, jumping off of the chair he'd been standing on and glowering at him. "I've had enough of this for one night."

"I am Groot!" Groot adds bitterly, and Gamora spares him a look.

"That isn't helpful right now," she snaps at the teenage tree, who glowers even further, if that's even possible.

"I was not finished," Drax crossss his arms across his chest again, a deep scowl on his face.

"Oh, I think we've heard enough there, buddy," Rocket snarks as he starts to leave the room. "When you actually come up with a way to be useful in finding Quill, come find me."

Drax shakes his head. "It's a tactic of negotiation."

Rocket pauses to turn around, and Gamora looks at him sharply. Peter had always been the negotiations expert, not Drax.

"I am Groot? " Groot finally asks with a quizzical look on his face.

"Yeah, whaddaya mean?" Rocket gives Drax the same skeptical look.

"Let him finish," Mantis chides everyone gently, and they fall silent.

"It's a common battle tactic used to wield negotiations by leaders of my people during times of war," Drax explains patiently to them, like they're children—which honestly isn't all that far off from how they're acting right now. "This is a way of forcing our hand out of desperation when they finally do contact us. The lapse of time makes the other party more susceptible to their terms in order to end the conflict."

They all just stare at him in surprise, not expecting such a deeply thought out answer, before slowly nodding and humming collective in agreement. Drax's people may have been hardened warriors, but that didn't mean they all just charged headfirst into every battle unplanned—even if that was usually Drax's go-to move. They had had leaders, for a reason.

"Well, that may be true," Gamora stands, reaching down and gripping the hilt of her sword, "but the only terms they will get from me is my blades through their skulls."

"Yes, that is my favorite method," Drax agrees with a dark smile, sounding more like the Destroyer they all know.

"Now you're talkin'," Rocket bares his teeth in agreement to that.

"I am Groot," Groot chimes in, making Rocket turn back towards him.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. We still gotta find Quill first. Assuming he's still in one piece."

"I am _Groot_," his upset tone is unmistakable.

"That is a terrible thing to say!" Mantis sounds scandalized. "We are all already very worried about Peter."

"As we should be," Drax begins, about to add something else unhelpful, but Gamora silences him with a glare.

Rocket actually cringes as he turns back around to meet Gamora's stony gaze.

"Ah, crap, sorry Gamora," he sighs, running a paw against the fur on his head, "I'm sure we'll find him, and we'll get him back, but…"

He trails off, unable to finish.

"I know," Gamora sighs quietly, looking away as a now familiar fear clenches her heart. "You're worried."

Rocket nods slowly, furry shoulders hunched. "Not that I would ever normally admit this—and don't you dare any of you tell him this—but yeah. I'm worried about how much trouble our loud-mouthed humie has probably gotten himself into by now."

Gamora can't help but agree with that. If anything is a fact, that is one: Peter can easily drive any of his captors crazy with his incessant talking. It's a gift of his, really.

She just hopes he hasn't talked himself too far this time, wherever he is.

Just then, the console beeps with an incoming call, the holo screen on the ship's dash lighting up, startling them all.

"It says it is an unknown source," Drax frowns as they all hurry to look at the screen.

"Now that's weird," Rocket muses as he studies the screen, "most of Dey's ships register who it is."

"It doesn't matter who it is! They might have something on Peter," Gamora cuts in hastily, hoping that this is finally the break they'd been looking for, that they'd finally know where Peter is and who took him. "Just answer it!"

Gamora turns out to regret knowing that information only seconds later.

"Oh, perhaps it is good news!" Mantis adds optimistically, even with all of the negative feelings flooding around her. She's really trying.

"I am Groot!" Groot chimes in loudly, crowding in around the holo screen as Rocket perches on the console.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," Rocket replies as he hits the button to answer the call.

The sight they are greeted with is one that they are completely unprepared for.

Wherever it is, it's impossibly dark, and looks to be out in the far reaches of space or on some large, dark spaceship, far from them and civilization. But that's not what immediately catches their attention.

Bound and gagged on his knees with an unknown captor off screen...is Peter.

Gamora momentarily forgets how to breathe as he comes into view of the screen.

Peter looks like he's been on the wrong end of fight with a metal rod and lost, several times over, to say the least. He is bruised and bloodied, his clothes and jacket torn, and blood is seeping sluggishly from a wound at his hairline and streaking down his face, matting into the side of his hair and beard. His breathing is clearly labored and he appears to be slightly favoring his left side, possibly due to cracked or broken ribs. His eyes are unfocused and glassy—he's definitely got a concussion—and he's blinking constantly like he's trying to focus on anything in front of him. They aren't sure that he can see them at first, on the screen.

"Peter!" Gamora involuntarily gasps at the sight of him, before her gutted expression is quickly replaced by one of anger. "Whoever you are...you are going to _pay_ for this."

There's no answer at first, and no immediate movement on the other side of the screen, but they know that Peter isn't there alone.

"Oh _yeah_ you are!" Rocket growls, baring all of his teeth.

"I am Groot," Groot snaps, trying to make his voice sound lower and more intimidating.

"Our terms are only with knives," Drax says menacingly to the screen, completely ignoring his own earlier negotiation advice.

Mantis just puts on her best mean face behind them.

But even with all that, there's still no immediate response from the other side, from Peter's captor, and Gamora feels dread creep up her spine that something seems eerily familiar about all of this, but she can't immediately place it.

"Peter, are you alright?" she asks instead, hoping he can respond, even if he can't talk with the bind in his mouth.

Peter jerks his head up more at her calling of his name, rocking unsteadily on his knees, but somehow precariously keeps his balance.

"Quill, can you hear us?" Rocket asks, hoping for more of a response.

Peter finally seems to be able to focus on them on the screen, his eyes widening for a second as he finally realizes what's going on.

He shakes his head, coughing with a pained wince through the gag. His face is pained and full of fear and guilt, but he shakes his head again...like he's trying to tell them _not_ to come for him.

Gamora's heart clenches painfully, and she wishes more than anything that she was there with him so that she could kill his captors and get him to the medbay immediately. "Peter, no, we're not just _leaving_ you…"

And that's when his captor finally comes into view. It's _worse_ than any scenario Gamora could've ever come up with.

"Little one," Thanos booms, walking onto the screen from the dark shadows and coming to a menacing stop behind Peter, "we have some things to discuss."

Gamora _can't_ breathe.

She freezes, just staring at the screen in absolute horror and shock. Godslayer, clutched in her hand, slips out of her grasp and clatters to the floor, sounding like gunshots as it hits the floor.

_Thanos has Peter Thanos has Peter THANOS HAS PETER..._

The other Guardians react around her, swearing in shock and surprise at seeing Thanos, but Gamora's heart is in her throat.

If Thanos has Peter...he's already as good as dead. Thanos never does anything without a purpose.

This is _her_ fault, this is all her fault. Thanos is using Peter against her, she knows he is, knows how he works better than anyone, how he exploits weaknesses and uses love when he really means manipulation.

It's her fault that Peter got mixed up with Thanos, that she put him in the line of fire, and now he's going to die.

Because of her.

Thanos just smiles calmly, seeing her reaction. He already knows he's won. He ignores the others on the screen, looking directly at her.

"Don't keep us waiting."

And then the holo screen goes dark as Thanos ends the call.

"That big purple bastard!" Rocket screams at the screen, throwing something across the room, shattering in the background.

"This is very, _very_ bad," Mantis sniffs quietly, blinking back tears.

"I am Groot! I am _Groot_!" Groot is flailing his wooden arms around now, yelling at the others that they have to do something to help Peter, _now_.

"We must go at once and finally face Thanos head-on!" Drax pulls out his knives, raising them at the ceiling. "He has Quill!"

Gamora is going to be sick. Her whole body is trembling violently now, but she finally manages a reply. "...no."

The others all fall silent for a rare moment, turning to stare at her in disbelief. She just shakes her head again, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the sudden chill washing over her. It isn't working.

"No, you can't...none of you can," she chokes at miserably. "Only me."

Rocket looks at her incredulously. "Gamora, are you insane?! C'mon, you know the guy, better than any'f us, you know you can't take him on alone!"

"You will need all of our help," Drax adds seriously. "We must go together to save Quill!"

"No," Gamora tries again, and she's shaking even harder now, out of her control, "no, I have to do this alone. If all of you come, he'll just kill Peter anyways."

And really, she also knows Thanos will kill all of _them_, too, and she can't let all of them die because of her, she has to protect them in any way she can.

She swallows hard, trying to compose herself, before she looks at all of them again. She holds their gazes steadily as she continues, knowing she has to convince them she's right, that she has to somehow make them understand.

"I _have_ to go alone. It's Peter's only chance."

They don't understand, like she knew they wouldn't, refusing to let her face Thanos alone to save Peter.

So she sets fake coordinates to Thanos' ship and disappears alone in the middle of the night with the pod, heading in the right direction.

She hopes they'll understand.

* * *

Gamora never thought she'd be aboard _Sanctuary II_ again.

She hates that she's about to be. She knows she'll likely never leave it again after this, either.

She'll either die trying to save Peter, or she'll be imprisoned in some form or another by Thanos.

Either way, he isn't letting her get away again.

After all, that's what this is all about. Peter is just the bait, the leverage to bring her back home—well home in Thanos' eyes, because this ship of death and destruction and the so-called family he'd claimed they had was _never_ home to her.

It's surprisingly easy to get on the ship. The doors open automatically, and no one tries to stop her. No Chitauri guards, and none of her other so-called siblings—they're calling themselves the Black Order nowadays, apparently—the halls eerily empty and quiet as she makes her way towards Thanos' throne room.

Gamora knows immediately that this is planned. Thanos knew, without a doubt, that she would come for Peter, and he's just simply _waiting_ for her.

She exhales deeply, trying to prepare herself for what's to come...and finally enters the throne room.

No surprise, Thanos is sitting on his chair, just patiently waiting as she approaches. Even though she knows her skills as an assassin are unparalleled—are the reason that she was the favorite, really—and even with her sword expertly clutched in her hand, Gamora has never felt so small. She feels like a child again on Zen-Whoberi, about to face an impossible force that she can barely comprehend.

Only this time, Peter's life is on the line. If Thanos hasn't already…

"Welcome home, Daughter," Thanos smiles as she stops at the bottom stairs of his throne, but it isn't kind.

Somehow, she finds the inner strength to stand up to him, even though she's never been more afraid. She raises her chin defiantly. "This isn't my home, and I'm _not_ your daughter."

"It was," Thanos replies simply, "until you left. You had a family here, Little One, you just didn't care what happened to it."

"No," Gamora shakes her head, taking a few steps up the stairs to face him more directly, "you _kidnapped_ me, destroyed my home, and turned me into a weapon."

Thanos sits up a little straighter in his chair now, eyes narrowed. "I saved you."

"I didn't ask for it!" Gamora snaps, and she hates that her voice breaks. "I didn't _want_ you to save me."

"And yet, because of my generosity, you stand before me, the fiercest woman in the galaxy," Thanos muses, until his tone suddenly turns dark. He finally stands up, coming down the steps to stand in front of her, but Gamora determinedly holds her ground. "Well, you were, until you decided it to throw it all away for these inferior beings you've surrounded yourself with, with _humanity_."

Gamora swallows, staring up at him and holding his icy gaze. "Where's Peter?"

Thanos gives her a sinister smile. "Ah, that must be the boyfriend."

"He has nothing to do with this, with us," Gamora pleads, daring to take a step closer to him. "Let him go, he has no part in this."

"He has _everything_ to do with this," Thanos growls, and it takes all of Gamora's inner strength not to shrink back. "He's a distraction, Daughter, from your true purpose."

Gamora wants to argue, but she knows it would be useless. She tries to pledge her undying loyalty instead. "Please, Father," the word tastes bitter in her mouth, "if you spare him, I promise I will rejoin your cause. I won't leave home again."

Thanos leans down closer to her, and she hates the smug look on his face. "He must be important to you, if you're willing to bend so easily."

Gamora shakes her head. "No, that's not what I..."

She isn't able to finish as Thanos suddenly walks away from her, towards a large metal door now retracting in the wall behind the throne.

Gamora has no choice but to follow him.

Thanos walks into a small room—and Gamora feels like she can't breathe, because she recognizes this room. It's a torture room, for captives on the ship.

She picks up her pace behind Thanos, and he stops as a series of metal bars retract back into the floor and ceiling in the center of the room. When he steps out of the way, Gamora has to stop herself from crying out when she finally sees what's inside the room.

Peter.

He's in the center of the room, and he's strung up by his hands, thick cables wrapped around his wrists so that he's suspended from the ceiling. The toes of his boots are just barely scraping the floor as he swings ever so barely back and forth. His head is slumped forwards, his eyes closed, and Gamora fears for a minute that he's already dead.

"_Peter_," she chokes out, and rushes to the middle of the room, not even bothering with the pretense in front of Thanos anymore. It doesn't matter, anyways. He already knows. No use in trying to hide it now.

She reaches out with a shaking hand and cups one of Peter's cheeks, streaked with dirt and blood, dark bruises under his eyes. She's beyond relieved to discover his skin is still warm, though clammy, and she can feel his labored breaths as she holds his face in her hands.

He's unconscious, for now, but she tries again anyways. "Peter, can you hear me?"

No response.

Thanos comes to a stop at the side of the room, watching her and Peter with great interest. "I brought him here to _talk_, while we waited for you to join us."

By talk he means torture, and Gamora wishes she could kill him right now. There's no way she can defeat him one-on-one, and she knows it. That, and knowing that Peter is still in harm's way, is the only thing that's stopping her.

Still tenderly cupping his face in her hands, she replies bitterly, still refusing to look at Thanos. "What is this? What do you want?"

"For a time," Thanos answers, "your will was the same as mine, and my cause was just as much yours as it was my own. As my favorite daughter, I entrusted you to help me retrieve the Infinity Stones, to fulfill our destiny."

Gamora finally dares a glance back at him, hoping she can lie. "And if I help you now, if I rejoin your cause, will you let him go?"

"...G'mora?"

Peter's raspy, broken voice immediately turns her attention back to him.

"_Peter_," she sighs in relief at seeing him awake, although that relief is short-lived at the situation they are currently in. "Peter, it's me. I'm here."

He coughs weakly, blinking several times as he tries to focus on her face, and he grimaces as all of his injuries come back into awareness. "No...Gamora...y'u shouldn't...you _shouldn't_ b'here..."

"Ah, how selfless," Thanos sneers, as Peter's unsteady gaze narrows on him for a second. "He's willing to die for you, right now, Little One. But he doesn't have to."

Gamora nods slowly, her eyes still trained on Peter. "What do you need me to do?"

"The Power Stone, on Xandar," Thanos answers, "you have access to it, since you help put it there."

Gamora swallows. "It's not that simple..."

Thanos makes a disappointed noise, nods towards a dark corner of the room.

Gamora whips around, and to her disgust, Ebony Maw steps out of the shadows, a smug look on his sunken face.

Of all her siblings, Gamora hates him the _most_.

"How spectacular it is," Maw sneers as he comes closer to her and Peter, "to see the once favorite daughter of the all mighty Thanos finally return to her rightful home, only to beg for the life of a Terran. Truly, you've fallen beneath us all, dear Gamora. You've lost sight of our greatness."

Gamora wants nothing more than to stab him right between the eyes as she glares at him. He's jealous of her, always has been, and he's reveling in this turn of events.

But she knows Thanos having Maw here can't mean _anything_ good, because he often assists Thanos in all methods of pain and torture, and she immediately knows he's here for Peter. She doesn't dignify him with an answer, turning back to Thanos.

"He doesn't need to be here," she says quickly. "You don't need him, I'll help you get the Power Stone, I _swear_ it."

Thanos smiles, but he doesn't look like he believes her. "I know you will."

But before she can reply. Peter's hoarse voice interrupts her. "No...G'mora...don't help him."

She turns back to him, her eyes full of guilt and pain, because she's the reason he's here right now, and she'll do whatever it takes to save his life. He's the most important thing in _her_ life.

"Peter...it's okay. I know what I'm doing."

Even though he's only half-conscious right now, has been beaten within an inch of his life, Peter is still determined. "'Mora...no...y'u _can't_."

Gamora blinks back forcibly at the tears forming in her eyes at his impassioned plea, at his willingness to give himself up so she doesn't have to help Thanos on his quest to destroy the universe...but her thoughts are quickly interrupted as Thanos speaks again.

"If you don't help me, Daughter, things are going to end very badly. For _him_."

"No, _no_, I'll do it, I'll get the Power Stone," Gamora snaps her head back to look at him, hand still cupping Peter's face tenderly. "Nova Corps trusts me, I will be allowed close access to the stone. I won't fail you again."

"Good," Thanos replies simply, "but that's not all I want."

Gamora nods slowly, because she already knew. The Power Stone won't be enough to spare Peter's life or forgive her betrayal. "What else?"

"The Reality Stone is on Knowhere, with some fool called the Collector," Thanos informs her, and Gamora starts at the mention of the Collector's name, "you'll retrieve that stone as well."

Gamora nods obediently. She doesn't have a choice, if she wants Peter to live. "Yes, Father."

"The Asguardian people have the Space Stone," Thanos continues, "I've already sent the rest of the Black Order to retrieve it before we meet with them on Titan. That leaves two more stones on Earth, but we'll retrieve all of those together once your siblings return."

Gamora swallows, trying to remain calm. If Thanos gets all of the Infinity Stones, the universe as they know it will be over, half of the population gone in a single snap.

But he needs all six stones...and there's no way he'll find the final one.

Because she's the only one who knows where it is.

Thanos looks at her carefully. "That just leaves the Soul Stone, which I entrusted you to find."

Gamora desperately tries to slow her racing heartbeat. "I'm sorry I disappointed you."

Thanos sighs indifferently, taking a step forwards. "I am disappointed, but not because you didn't find it...but because you did, and you _lied_."

She freezes—because she doesn't know _how_ he knows—and opens her mouth to deny it. "No, I swear to you…"

"Enough!" Thanos bellows, and Gamora shrinks back, still putting herself between him and Peter. "I never taught you to lie, that's why you're so _bad_ at it."

He turns away from her, and gives a stiff nod at Maw, and Gamora immediately knows things are about to get _bad_.

"No!" she cries out desperately, but it's too late.

Maw steps forward, almost gleeful, and raises his hands. From out of nowhere in the darkness behind him, several long, sharp, surgical knives, with sharp, glistening points, levitate forwards in the darkness.

Gamora feels a scream stuck in her throat. Everything is moving in slow motion.

Thanos jerks her back out of the way, right next to his side, despite her feeble struggles to break his grasp. "No, wait!"

Maw pushes his hands forwards, and the knives head towards Peter.

Peter jerks his head up in fear, suddenly realizing what's about to happen, and not being able to do anything about it, unfocused eyes wide as he stares at the projectiles aimed directly at him.

In some small form of mercy, Maw stops the knives at a dead halt right before they touch Peter, hovering all around him. For a minute, Gamora thinks maybe Thanos is going to be generous, and leave Peter unharmed, but that hope is short-lived.

Maw moves one hand forward, and buries one dagger deep into Peter's shoulder, piercing through his tattered leather coat as he hangs there helplessly.

A pained gasp escapes Peter's lips, and he grits his teeth against the pain.

Maw smiles in satisfaction, and stabs another knife into his knee. Peter tries to hold back a pained grunt through his clenched teeth, and Gamora knows he's just trying to hold it in, that being stabbed _hurts_. They are small but effective, sinking deep into his body. Gamora knows it will only take a few to pierce some vital organs or make him bleed out, blood already oozing steadily out of the wounds he has.

Despite knowing what's coming, Peter turns to look at her, his unsteady gaze defiant.

"No...no matter wh't…no matter what th'y do, Gamora...don't tell 'em. D'n't tell 'em a damn thing."

Gamora chokes down a sob. "Peter, I can't…"

Maw interrupts, raising his hand to drive another dagger into Peter. Peter closes his eyes, bracing himself for the pain.

"Wait, please, stop!" she turns to Thanos in desperation. "I swear to you on my life I never found the Soul Stone!"

Thanos just gives her a long, disappointed look, before nodding at Maw.

Maw, still effortlessly levitating all of the daggers at Peter, steps back to hit the console in the front of the room.

Gamora loses all hope the second the holo video projects into the room.

_"He can't, Nebula. Because I found the map to the Soul Stone and I burned it to ash. I burned it."_

The video ends.

Gamora hangs her head in defeat and shame, while pleading to every entity in the universe for Nebula not to be a captive _too_.

Thanos clarifies only moments later.

"Some time ago, your sister snuck aboard this ship and tried to kill me. She very nearly succeeded. And we very nearly caught her before she escaped...but not before we were able to upload her most recent memory files."

Gamora closes her eyes, fighting back tears. If she tells Thanos where the Soul Stone is, half the universe will end.

If she doesn't...Peter will die.

She doesn't think she's strong enough for this.

"Tell me," Thanos growls, motioning at Maw again, "where is the Soul Stone?"

Gamora makes eye contact with Peter, and even through the pain and fear she can see in his eyes...he still shakes his head _no_.

Maw, almost looking bored, drives a knife into his other shoulder, and then another into his thigh, Peter trying his best to bite down a scream each time.

Then Maw turns his hands into a rotating motion, making all of the daggers already embedded in Peter's body rotate.

Peter screams.

He's in agony now, each knife digging deeper and deeper into his body, spinning painfully through muscle and bone, as Maw adds another one to his forearm.

And he's not even going to the vital organs yet.

Gamora can't take it, watching Peter be tortured to death, listening to his cries of pain…

And then Maw places a knife directly over his heart, sending it forward to sink into his shirt, drawing a trickle of blood down his chest.

He's going to _kill_ him.

Gamora knows what she has to do, even though she hates herself for it.

But she _can't_ let Peter die.

"Vormir!" she gasps in desperation, whole body shaking. "The stone is on Vormir."

Thanos nods, and Maw waves his hands away, all of the daggers, including the ones buried in Peter, fall to the floor with a deafening clang.

Gamora walks forward, craddling Peter's face gingerly in her hands again. He's unconscious again, from both pain and blood loss, but he's alive, and that's all she can hope to keep him.

Thanos walks up behind her. "Show me the stone."

Gamora nods miserably, but doesn't bother to face him. "I will. As soon as you provide Peter with medical aid."

Thanos huffs, but nods at Maw, who leaves the room to gather supplies. Then he grabs Gamora roughly by the shoulder. "Let's go. There's no time to waste."

* * *

Once they reach Vormir, Gamora realizes too late what the Soul Stone needs, and what Thanos claims he feels for her.

"No...this _isn't_ love."

And as he says he loves her as his own daughter, even as he hurls her off the side of the icy cliff in his bid to save—but really destroy—the universe, Gamora screams, for the universe, for the Guardians, for the normal life she'd lost...and for Peter.

She hates that Thanos calls abuse love and uses it to end the universe.

But she doesn't regret saving Peter. She loves him, more than anything.

Everything goes dark.


	4. Day 4: Partner/ Rhythm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 4 - Partner / Rhythm
> 
> Five times Gamora and Peter try to hide their new relationship from the rest of the Guardians, and one time everybody already knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, let's face it, the rest of these chapters will be reallyyyy late, but deadlines aren't my strong point. Please enjoy! After all the angst of the last few chapters (especially Day 3), and of course, more angst to come in the next few chapters, here's a lighter, fluffy, sorta humorous one, as promised! There are mild sexual themes but nothing that would be considered smut I don't think (not like my Day 2 entry). Thanks for reading!

Gamora and Peter are partners, in all meanings of the word now, both on and off the battlefield. And they're still trying to find their rhythm at this, at this whole unspoken-now-spoken thing, at this whole _relationship_ thing.

As such, they decide not to tell the others that they've finally taken their relationship to the next level—for now. Until they can figure out how a relationship is even supposed to work, since neither of them has really had one before to speak of.

It turns out keeping a secret like that from the other Guardians is easier said than done.

* * *

"Want some company?"

Gamora smiles, turning away from the holo screen she'd been studying for their next job, and turns around to face Peter. He's leaning casually against the doorway of the cockpit, arms crossed over his chest and a warm smile on his face.

It's almost ridiculous, how her heart flutters at the sight of him, like a young love-sick girl. Only a few months ago she would have loathed such feelings, such attachment, such weakness.

But now that her and Peter have finally decided to make their unspoken thing spoken—now that she has finally admitted that there _is_ something between them—she gets the luxury of feeling this way towards him, of opening herself up to new possibilities that she never thought she'd get the chance to have, under Thanos.

It's a strange but beautiful feeling, being able to care so freely for someone else...and Gamora has never been happier.

But even though they have finally decided to take the next uncertain steps in their relationship—they've decided to keep it just between them, for now, as they figure out what all this means. Involving the rest of the Guardians at this early stage would only make things more complicated, so they'd both agreed that they would wait to tell the others when the time is right.

Of course, hiding a new relationship on a small ship turns out to be a little more complicated than they'd thought.

She smirks at Peter as he enters the cockpit. "I'm more than capable of handling the night watch by myself."

Peter comes closer, eyes shining as he stops in front of her. "Yeah, but the beauty of it is you don't _have_ to. I came here to make your night watch more fun."

"How very noble of you, _Star-Lord_," she laughs, purposefully lowering her voice on his code name. That had sort of become an inside joke, as Peter called it, between them now, and she is finding that she loves having these little things between just the two of them.

"Yeah, that's me, noble," Peter winks at her in exaggeration, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her towards him. "And don't forget heroic and handsome, or so I've been told."

"And very modest," Gamora deadpans, and Peter chuckles at her improved used of sarcasm, shaking his head.

"Hey, as long as I've got the most amazing woman in the universe in my arms, I'm allowed to be a little cocky."

Gamora raises her eyebrows in amusement. "Is that so?"

"It is," he replies, but his tone is growing more serious now. "That, and I've also been told that I'm a _great_ kisser."

"Hmm," Gamora purses her lips, leaning her face in a little closer to him, "and tell me, Star-Lord, how many women have said..."

"Only you," Peter immediately interrupts, and then silences her with a kiss.

Kissing Peter is her new favorite thing.

His lips are soft yet firm against hers, parting her mouth ever so gently as he deepens the kiss. Gamora closes her eyes and hums in content against his lips, enjoying the simple intimacy of being able to just _kiss_ him. They haven't been alone all day, constantly surrounded by at least one other team member, and Gamora hadn't realized until now just how _badly_ she had wanted to kiss him.

Clearly Peter had felt the same way, sneaking out to the cockpit in the middle of the night cycle just so they could have some time alone.

Peter tightens his grip around her waist as their kissing intensifies, pulling her flush against his chest, and she moves her hands up to grip the back of his neck, pulling gently against the back of his hair.

He groans against her mouth when she does it, and it's like a jolt of electricity through her at the sound. They are still taking things slowly, and they haven't even slept together—not yet—and Peter is being patient and understanding, not wanting to pressure her until she's ready to take that next step with him, because letting anyone that close to her is something she is still learning how to do, learning how to be okay with.

But, she thinks—they may be taking that next step _soon_.

Her train of thought is suddenly interrupted by the realization that someone is about to enter the cockpit. Someone is about to walk in on them.

So Gamora does the only reasonable thing she can do in the situation...she panics.

She quickly moves her hands from a loving caress around his neck into a chokehold, and takes him down to the floor. Peter doesn't even see it coming, not having the same type of enchanced hearing as her and not knowing that anyone else is close by, and he lands on the floor with a pained _oof_ just as whoever is coming in reaches the top of the ladder.

It's the only thing she could think of to hide what they were really doing.

"Gamora...what the hell?" Peter groans from the floor as she pins him there, but before she can answer, Drax enters the cockpit.

"Oh! Are you trying to train Quill in the finer points of hand-to-hand combat?" Drax booms in excitement. "He is in desperate need of training."

Peter groans again on the floor, this time at Drax interrupting them and suddenly realizing why Gamora had just body-slammed him to the floor, while she struggles to come up with an answer.

"Ah, yes, Drax. I was helping Peter fine-tune his fighting skills."

"You have chosen a strange place for combat," Drax muses at the cramped cockpit, "but no matter. I would like to join you. Quill needs all of our help."

"C'mon, guys, I'm not _that_ bad," Peter grouses irritably from the floor. Gamora gives him a sympathetic smile as she reaches a hand down to pull him up, mouthing _sorry_ to him as he gets back to his feet.

He gives her a wry look but she knows he understands what just happened now.

"Quill, you are the least skilled fighter of us all," Drax replies matter-of-factly. "Now, if you are done letting Gamora win, it is my turn."

Gamora gives Peter a helpless look and shrugs, and Peter sighs heavily, knowing that he really doesn't have a choice, now, lest he blow their cover.

So much for their late-night rendezvous in the cockpit

* * *

"Peter..._here_?"

"Yeah," Peter pants breathlessly, still kissing down the side of her neck. There isn't anywhere else to be alone on the ship right now, not with both Kraglin and Nebula visiting at the same time, and Peter wants her, more than he's ever wanted anyone or anything in his entire life.

The way she moans as he nips at her collarbone tells him that she feels _exactly_ the same way.

Which is why they are currently down in the engine room, under the pretense of doing some maintenance checks, when really they just needed to be alone.

It's been almost a week since they've had sex...and now that they've finally discovered just how _amazing_ sex between them can be, they can't get enough.

But there's no way to sneak in and out of each other's rooms with all the extra eyes and ears currently on the ship, so Peter had come up with the brilliant plan to have her help him in the engine room.

"Peter," Gamora moans, and God he loves it when she says his name like that, "Peter, we shouldn't..."

"It's fine," Peter whispers, coming back up and kissing her lips hard. "No one can hear us down here."

She pulls back, panting at his touch, eyes hooded as she looks at him. "Okay. Then take off your shirt."

Peter pulls back, giving her quite possibly the biggest grin of his life, and hastily starts pulling up the bottom hem. Gamora gets impatient and tugs it roughly the rest of the way off over his head, tossing it to floor by their feet.

She runs her hands over his broad chest, and then moves to the muscles of his arms, dragging her nails and eyeing him appreciatively. He _loves_ when she does that, groaning at her touch.

"Your turn," he breathes, already hastily reaching for the buttons of her leather vest, pulling them open in record time.

He slides the vest and her undershirt off, and just exhales in appreciation of her beauty.

"You're so god damn beautiful," he mutters, and just as he goes to kiss her again, hands reaching for her, wanting to touch her everywhere...Gamora freezes.

"Someone's coming!" she hisses, eyes wide with panic. They are both completely topless, pressed up against one of the engine room walls, in a very compromising position.

"Wait, what...?" Peter starts to say, before Gamora frantically pulls out of his grasp, grabbing his shirt off the floor—because it's _way_ easier to put on in a hurry than her vest—and dives out of sight behind one of the engine compartments.

Just as she disappears, Rocket enters the engine room.

He stops in his tracks when he sees Peter just standing there, completely shirtless.

Peter tries to act casual, leaning up against the wall where he'd been undressing Gamora only moments ago. "Oh, hey Rocket, what's up?"

Rocket looks at him in disgust. "C'mon Quill, do you always gotta be half-naked? Try wearing some clothes, would ya?"

Peter stands up straighter, crossing his arms over his chest, grateful not for the first time that he is quick on his feet with words. "Whatever, it's hot down here, so I took off my shirt. Big deal."

Rocket all but rolls his eyes. "Well I came down here to make sure you weren't screwing up my new ship..."

"Our ship," Peter interjects, but Rocket just ignores him.

"...and now I gotta deal with this. Could you put on some clothes or do I gotta suffer with both you _and_ Drax?"

"I've got the engines, you don't need to help," Peter grouses, but he knows Rocket won't be deterred that easily.

Rocket narrows his eyes at him. "Yeah right Quill, I'm not lettin' you mess this up."

He pauses, suddenly realizing something about the situation. "Where's Gamora, anyways?"

"Right here," Gamora suddenly steps out of the shadows, making both Peter and Rocket jump. She's fully dressed again, looking completely causal, gripping Peter's shirt in her hand.

She gives him a wry look, like she's trying not to laugh, trying to act all innocent in front of Rocket like she wasn't about to let Peter take her against the wall a few moments ago. She tosses his shirt at him. "I found your shirt, Peter."

"Oh, _thank_ _you_, Gamora," Rocket snarks. "I'm tired of looking at his pale humie skin."

Peter scowls, but reluctantly takes the shirt from Gamora, knowing that they were not, in fact, going to be able to continue their hot engine room tryst. Rocket isn't going anywhere. He can practically see the disappointment in Gamora's eyes too.

"Okay, let's make sure you guys didn't hurt my baby," Rocket says, and starts inspecting the engines more closely.

Peter and Gamora meet eyes, and Peter shrugs. They help Rocket with the engines, instead, trying to figure out another time when they can actually be _alone_.

* * *

"Gamora...'Mora, y'u really are amazing, y'know?"

"Shh, Peter, don't talk," Gamora chides him gently, looking around to see if the others are close by. They are currently alone in the medbay of the ship, and Peter is currently _very_ concussed.

Thank the stars for his helmet—and for having a hard head, as Rocket says—that the blow to the head wasn't any worse.

Still, Peter is definitely going to be out of it for a while, and have a terrible headache, she knows. But he'll be alright, as long as they monitor him closely for any complications.

Gamora's more pressing issue at the moment is keeping him quiet, from spilling everything about their still new relationship to the others, because they still haven't told them yet.

Peter's about to ruin that. On a good day, Peter talks more than all of them combined, but now, with his brain scrambled and his every thought just coming to the tip of his tongue, Gamora has a feeling their little secret won't be a secret much longer.

"G'mora, you're so beautiful. You really are," Peter continues, sounding love drunk. He sort of is, in a way.

"Peter, don't talk," Gamora can't help but smile at him now, cupping his cheek gently. He's sitting on the edge of the medbay table, swaying a little drunkenly. "You need to rest."

"I'm fineee," he whines, sounding like a petulant child, "my head doesn't even hurt th't bad."

"It will, give it time," she tells him gently with a sigh. "But I've given you as much pain medicine as you can take right now."

"You're all th' medicine I neeeed," Peter slurs, and his unfocused gaze is trying to focus on her, pupils dilated, and Gamora tries not to roll her eyes at his line.

"Peter, you're being ridiculous."

"Only for you," he says immediately, but sincerely, and Gamora can't help but smile, a light fluttering in her chest at his words, even though he's half-delirious right now.

He's brutally honest like this, or when he's really drunk, not able to hold back his feelings for her.

Just then, she hears footsteps approaching the medbay, and she gently presses a finger to Peter's lips, trying to silence him.

He giggles.

Mantis knocks on the door, peeking her head in. "How is Peter?"

"He's okay," Gamora answers, "all things considered."

"That is good to hear," Mantis says warmly, entering the room. Gamora tenses.

Of all the Guardians, Mantis has been the hardest to hide their relationship from, just from the simple nature of her empathic abilities. Even if she doesn't touch them, she is just more in tune to others' feelings than any one else on the ship, and hiding the new change between them has been difficult, to say the least.

Of course, now that Peter is currently freely spilling his feelings about her without any filter, it won't take an empath to figure out that he and Gamora are now together.

Mantis comes closer to them both, watching Peter curiously as he sways on the table, looking at her brightly when he finally notices she's there. "Oh, hey Mantis!"

"Hi, Peter," she greets him, "how are you feeling?"

Peter squints, like he's trying to concentrate—which he probably is. "I dunno. My head sorta hurts. But it more feels spongy, like being drunk wit' no fun buzz, ya know?"

"I could help you sleep," Mantis offers kindly, "or I could try to ease some of your pain."

"Terrans aren't supposed to sleep too much, with concussions," Gamora quickly intervenes. It is true to an extent, Terrans do need to be awoken every few hours to make sure the concussion isn't getting worse, but he might feel better if she makes him sleep a little now, and then makes sure he is awake later when they check on him.

But right now, she knows if Mantis touches Peter—their secret will be out. There's no way that Mantis won't be able to read Peter's feelings and immediately know the truth about their relationship now.

Honestly, she can probably already tell just standing this close to him, even without him saying anything.

And it's not that they don't want the others to know, really, it's just that they are still figuring out what this whole thing means between them, and they just aren't quite ready to tell the rest of the team, to introduce all that chaos into their private little world.

For once, it's been nice, having something that can just be theirs, be _hers_ to enjoy. It may be selfish, but she wants to hold onto that for just a little bit longer.

Besides, they aren't quite sure how the others will react. Sure, they'll probably be supportive, and be happy for them, but it also likely won't come without concerns or judgment about two members of the team being romantically involved. And really, it is a valid concern, because if things should ever end badly between them, it would make things more complicated to live and work together, and it could jeopardize the team.

But looking at Peter now, how he's smiling goofily as he looks at her—Gamora is pretty sure that nothing will ever go wrong between them.

"I'm n't tired," Peter argues with them, even as he blinks several times, like there's weights on his eyelids. "I jus' wanna keep lookin' at y..."

"You do need to rest," Gamora cuts him off before he can finish his sentence, as Mantis looks back and forth between them. Gamora wonders if she already knows, but blissfully, she doesn't say anything, doesn't blurt out the feelings she's reading, for once. "But we need to keep you awake a little bit longer, to make sure you aren't getting any worse."

"It's j'st a concussion," he drawls, blinking heavily again. "Ow."

"You are in pain?" Mantis asks, but to Gamora it sounds more like a statement. If she can tell that, then she can probably tell everything else he is feeling, too.

"My head," Peter frowns, trying to focus on her face. Apparently the pain has finally caught up to him.

Gamora sighs sympathetically, forcing herself not to reach out and touch him, to not give herself away that easily. "It is going to hurt for a while."

Peter sighs heavily, wincing again. "That suckssss."

Gamora can't hold back a sympathetic smile. "It does."

She glances back over at Mantis, trying to read her, but her expression remains impassive. Either she can't tell, through all of Peter's confusion, or she isn't saying anything about them.

Either way, Gamora is silently grateful.

"Thank you, Mantis, but Peter will be alright for now," she tells her. "If we need you for anything, I will come get you."

"Okay," Mantis smiles brightly again. "Feel better, Peter."

Peter smiles a little too widely at her. "Thanks Mantis! I feel a whole lot better with G..."

"Peter," Gamora cuts him off again sternly, "don't over do it."

Peter just nods, then winces again as the world spins around him. "Ah, okay. Got it."

Mantis waves them farewell at that, and leaves the room.

Gamora stays with Peter in the medbay, waking him every few hours to make sure that the concussion isn't getting worse.

And every time she wakes him up, she gets to listen to him tell her how amazing she is, and how much she means to him.

Gamora doesn't mind.

* * *

"Holy f…Gamora, that was…"

Peter is barely capable of speech right now, panting and breathless, still laying naked on top of her.

Gamora smiles up at him, running a hand through his hair. "I know," she agrees with a heavy, contented sigh, feeling sated and boneless underneath him.

They'd finally gotten the ship to themselves, while the rest of the Guardians were off-ship doing a little supply run. However, they weren't in the safest of ship harbors—even worse than Knowhere—and Peter and Gamora had stayed back with the ship to make sure it wasn't vandalized or stolen.

But it was really just a cover so they could be _alone_.

They'd taken advantage of that time alone, however, being able to be as loud and as carefree as they wanted in Gamora's room, not having to worry about thin walls or prying eyes.

It was _amazing_.

Just then, Gamora cranes her head. She swears she can hear the pitter-patter of little feet coming closer to her door, and coming closer in a hurry.

It sounds like Guardians, or at least some of them, have already returned. They must have missed the gangway doors opening while they were busy doing _other_ things.

Her eyes grow wide. "Peter...you locked the door, right?"

"Yeah," he nods, furrowing his brows as he looks down at her, "I think."

Suddenly he freezes, with a slightly panicked look on his face. "Or maybe not."

Gamora looks up at him in alarm, because the little feet running are right outside her door now, and they are in a _very_ compromising position.

Gamora, for not the first time, does the only thing she can think of.

She pushes Peter, hard, sending him toppling towards the far side of the bed, right over the edge and onto the floor with the force of her push.

But at least he's out of sight.

He lands with a pained grunt below, but she doesn't have time to check on him. She hastily grabs the sheets and pulls them up over her naked body, at the exact moment the door bursts open.

Groot, still a tiny tree, comes barreling into her room. "I am Groot!"

At his young age, he's become very attached to Gamora, and she knows she's somehow become some sort of a mother-figure to him.

That being said, he's always very excited to see her after they've been apart, for even a little while, which is why he is currently stretching out his arms into little vines to pull himself up on her bed, still excitedly saying "I am Groot!" over and over again to get her attention.

"Hi Groot," Gamora sighs, but she can't help but smile as the baby tree comes running across the bed towards her. Still making sure the covers are securely covering her body from the chest up, she scoops him up in one hand, to keep him from getting to the other side of the bed and seeing Peter still sprawled out on the floor.

Peter is remaining deathly quiet below, having quickly figured out that they were no longer alone, desperately trying to avoid Groot catching them naked together and having to explain _that_ to a child...plus the rest of the team.

"I missed you too," Gamora replies to Groot, but then she raises her eyebrows, "but what did I tell you about not knocking first? You can't just come into someone's room without letting them know you are there."

Groot wilts a little bit in her hand. "I am Groot."

"No," Gamora shakes her head, "I'm not mad, but I was _very_ surprised when you came running in. You know what I said about surprising me, right? That sometimes my reactions still aren't very nice, because I didn't have a very nice childhood. I just don't ever want to hurt or scare you, Groot."

Groot nods at her with wide eyes. "I am Groot."

Gamora can't help but smile at his innocent apology, despite the fact that she is very aware of how naked she is right now under the covers, feeling incredibly awkward.

Or that Peter is still naked, hiding on the floor out of sight.

Luckily for them, Groot is so young he hasn't even noticed anything out of the ordinary.

"Okay, why don't you head to the galley, it's almost time for dinner," Gamora tells Groot, setting him back down on the bed and giving him a gentle push towards the door. "I'll be there in a minute."

"I am Groot," Groot says gleefully, jumping back off the bed and running back out the door in record time.

With a sigh of relief that he's finally gone, Gamora leans to look back over the other side of the bed.

Peter is laying sprawled out on the floor at an uncomfortable angle. He grimaces but gives her a thumbs up when he sees her face peering over the edge.

"Well, _that_ was close."

Gamora nods her head. "Yes, it was." She reaches a hand down to him. "Sorry I had to push you off the bed."

He takes her hand as she effortlessly pulls him back up, and he sits on the edge of the bed next to her.

"No, that was definitely the right move. I really don't wanna have the birds and bees talk with Groot already. Or having to explain us," he gestures between them.

Gamora nods. "Agreed. Now let's get dressed before someone else catches us like this."

Peter agrees, looking around the room for his clothes. "No arguing with you there."

She sighs, and leaves the bed, hurriedly looking for her own clothes, before Peter suddenly pulls her to him for one final kiss.

He pulls back, and she smiles at him as he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Just for the record," he says, lowering her voice, a sly look on his face "even if the others would've caught us together right now..._that_ was definitely worth it."

Gamora gives him an appraising look. She has to agree.

But before she can say anything else, they hear Rocket in the distance.

"Where's Quill hidin' at?"

Peter's eyes grow wide, and they break apart, hurriedly finishing getting dressed.

"I'll leave first, and distract the others, then you sneak out and join us," Gamora tells him, heading for the door.

"Got it," Peter nods, pulling on his jacket, and running a hand through his hair in an effort to make it look less like post-sex hair.

It doesn't work, and Gamora smiles in amusement.

And as she turns to leave the room first, she can't help but wonder why they are still bothering to hide their relationship from the others.

Maybe it's time to tell them.

* * *

It's been a long few days, and it's finally the end of a long mission for Nova Corps, and Peter has never wanted a long hot shower more.

Of course, with only one shower on the ship, it creates a bit of a line-up, but Peter just so happened to beat them all there first.

Captain's privileges, or so he'd called it, much to the grumbles and protests of the rest of the Guardians plus Kraglin and Nebula, who had also joined them on this job.

He's got his Zune on the counter, faintly playing some songs in the background, which blissfully had a few over-lapping songs from his Walkman that he can still listen to.

Small mercies.

He closes his eyes and stands face first under the hot spray of water, just letting the last few days of sweat and grime wash off of him. He's so lost in the water and the music that he barely hears the shower door open.

He hears it click shut behind him, and he opens his eyes, turning around to see Gamora standing behind him.

His eyes open wider when he sees her there, a big grin on his face. "Now _this_ is a good surprise."

Gamora shrugs, coming closer to him, a knowing look on her face. "You are taking far too long in here. I thought it might be easier to shower together."

"I see," Peter says lowly, and he reaches a hand out to pull her the rest of the way to him, so that they are both standing under the water now. "Well, I'm all about efficiency, especially if it means I get to have you in here with me, naked."

Gamora leans up to kiss him, humming in agreement. "I thought you would approve of this arrangement."

"Oh yeah," Peter replies between kisses, "_definitely_."

But before they can take things any further...there's a sharp knocking on the bathroom door.

Gamora jumps, pulling back out of his embrace hastily, and Peter swears under his breath, before shouting a _very_ annoyed answer at the door. "Yeah?"

"Quill," Nebula's sharp, unamused voice comes through the door, "if you take any longer in there, I will cut the pipes to the hot water."

Peter groans in annoyance. Of course Gamora's murder happy sister—well, slightly less murder happy towards all of them now, since Ego—would be the one to catch them together in the shower.

He can see the look on Gamora's face, desperate for Peter to get rid of her, because this is _not_ how she wants them to tell the others that they are together, least of all Nebula.

They had already decided they were ready to tell the rest of the Guardians about the change in their relationship after this job was finished, anyways, and were planning on telling them tonight at their celebratory dinner.

However, their plans might be derailed right _now_.

"Oh, hey, Nebula," Peter snarks back through the door, "glad to hear your good mood on the job hasn't changed, like at all, now that we're back."

"Do not test me, Quill," Nebula growls back through the door, and Peter is half-afraid she's going to break it down. The only thing stopping her, he thinks, is that she'd rather stab out her own eyes than see him naked. He knows that, because she's already said as much.

Yeah, Nebula is always fun to be around.

"Yeah, of course, I wouldn't dream of it," Peter yells back way too cheerfully, and Gamora has to stifle a laugh before Nebula hears her. "Besides, I know you're only standing out there because you miss my awesome singing."

"If I have to hear you sing one more of your infernal songs, I will stab you," Nebula calls back, and Peter thinks she probably would. "Now get _out_ of there so the rest of us may use it."

Just then, by some divine intervention, _Ooh Child_ starts playing on the Zune. Peter glances over at Gamora, still hiding silently in the shower beside him, and grins.

He knows exactly what to do.

"C'mon, Nebula, I happen to know you love my music and my singing," he calls out.

"Quill, I swear if you…"

Nebula doesn't get a chance to finish, because Peter opens his mouth and starts belting the lyrics at the top of his lungs, purposefully a little off-key.

"Ooh-oo child,

Things are gonna get easier,

Ooh-oo child,

Things'll get brighter…

Now listen to these words, Nebula!"

Gamora is desperately trying to contain her laughter now at Peter's diversion strategy, and Peter only smiles wider at her as he keeps singing, loud and obnoxiously.

"You idiot!" Nebula shouts back through the door, and she finally leaves, stomping angrily away.

Peter keeps singing a few more lines, just for good measure, until they are both sure she's gone.

"Now how was that for a distraction?" he says quietly to Gamora.

Gamora has finally composed herself, but she's still smiling. "It was very effective, Peter."

"Yeah it was," he laughs, and he goes to pull her back to him again, but she just shakes her head.

"I should go, before someone else catches us in here. And you should actually shower, before Nebula cuts the water lines."

That's true, but Peter still feels disappointed. Things were just about to be really _fun_ in this shower, although he knows Gamora is right. "Ah, okay, yeah. Good point."

At the disappointed look on his face, she leans up to kiss him. She pulls back, giving him a warm smile. "But after tonight, we won't need to hide it anymore."

Peter smiles like an idiot. He's really looking forward to that, to not having to sneak around anymore. It's time the others knew the truth about what is going on between them, and he's beyond glad that Gamora feels the same way.

He smiles at her. "Can't wait."

* * *

Any meals with the Guardians on the ship are generally chaos, but with the addition of Kraglin and Nebula and a copious amount of expensive Xandarian liquor that they'd purchased with their big payday from the job...it was _extra_ crazy.

Even so, Peter and Gamora are telling them all tonight, telling them that they are _together_ now, in all senses of the word.

Even across the ship, they can hear loud noises and even louder voices coming from the table in the ship's galley where everyone is crammed around for dinner, for whatever it is that Drax is cooking tonight. Somehow, he's the best cook of all of them, and most of the time it isn't half bad, so they don't complain. Much.

Just outside the entryway, Peter pauses and looks over at Gamora, before reaching over and taking her hand, lacing their fingers tightly together.

"Well, ready?" he whispers to her, squeezing her hand tightly.

She squeezes back and nods. "Yes."

Peter smiles. He loves her, so much, even though it's so early in their relationship, yet he's pretty sure she feels the same way, even if they haven't said it out loud yet.

All in due time.

With a deep breath, he walks into the kitchen area, Gamora's hand still tightly clasped in his own.

The Guardians are still deeply engrossed in their conversation—or more an argument about something, really—passing around plates of food and bottles of liquor, Groot running around the top of the table and stealing food off of everyone else's plates. None of them even bother to look up or even notice that they are there.

Pure chaos, per usual, and exactly what they expected.

Peter clears his throat, trying to get their attention. "Uh, hey guys…"

They still don't look up. Rocket yells at Groot to get off the table, and Drax laughs uproariously at something Kraglin says. Nebula just sits stiffly in the corner with her arms crossed, a scowl on her face, but she's nodding along to whatever Mantis is cheerfully babbling on about.

Peter looks over at Gamora and shrugs. She nods at him to try again.

"Guys, listen up, we've got something important to tell you."

Still no reaction, as Groot tips over a cup and everyone yells in surprise—Rocket and Kraglin more lamenting over the waste of good alochol—as Mantis throws a towel haphazardly over the mess.

Peter sighs, trying to hold in his growing irritation. "Guys, come on…"

"Hey!" Gamora suddenly speaks up, loudly, and the others finally fall into dead silence, turning to look over at them.

Peter flashes her an amused smile. Per usual, the Guardians always listen to her better than him, even though he's the captain, actually, but he really doesn't mind. Gamora can't do _anything_ wrong, in his eyes.

"Yeah, what?" Rocket grouses at them, taking a long swig of his drink.

"Gamora and I," Peter glances over at her before he faces the rest of the team, "have something we wanna tell you all."

Rocket wipes his wet muzzle with the back of his paw. "What, that you guys have been screwin'? 'Cause we already know."

Peter and Gamora just stare at him, and Peter finds himself momentarily speechless, which is a rare thing for him, really.

"What are they screwing?" Mantis asks Rocket curiously.

Rocket gestures at them with a look of disgust on his face, a matching look currently on Nebula's. "Each other."

He pauses, narrowing his eyes on Groot before he says anything else. "Groot, cover your ears."

"I am Groot," Groot protests, and just takes another piece of food off of his plate instead.

Rocket sighs. "Yeah, guess it's probably time you learned about the facts of life, anyways."

"Oh, you mean they are having sexual relations! Yes, we all already know," Drax booms merrily, as he scoops some seconds onto Kraglin's plate, just finally realizing what Rocket means by _screwing_. Peter sort of wants to die. He feels Gamora tense up next to him, and he squeezes her hand again.

"Wait," Peter finally finds his voice, looking at them all incredulously, "you guys _already_ know?!"

Kraglin nods slowly and answers around another mouthful of whatever mush Drax had just put on his plate. "Yeah, Pete, you was never as stealthy as you thought you was."

"Hardly," Nebula snorts in agreement, arms still crossed. "Disgusting."

"...how did you all find out?" Gamora finally asks, looking just as surprised as Peter.

"Oh, I just thought the feelings I felt between you two were love!" Mantis quickly overshares, and Peter wants to die again. "I did not realize that meant you were also sexually involved."

Rocket huffs. "Well o'course it does. Folks in love or whatever gross feelings we're callin' this generally show it through _that_." He shudders.

"Guys, enough!" Peter protests. "Could you guys please stop talking about me and Gamora's sex life?"

Nebula looks like she wants to stab him, even more than usual. "_Gladly_."

"Then maybe you should work on bein' a little quieter, Quill," Rocket snarks back, and Peter has to resist the urge to throw something at him.

"It is nothing to be ashamed of," Drax adds helpfully. "Sexual intimacy is a beautiful thing, and one that should be shared. Come and join us. I would most like to hear the tales of your most recent encounter."

Gamora inhales sharply next to him. Peter nearly chokes. "Oh my God, that is _not_ going to happen!"

"I'll stab you if it does," Nebula adds darkly.

"Me too," Rocket quickly agrees.

"Look, guys, that wasn't actually what we wanted to tell you," Peter tells them firmly, before this conversation gets even more out of hand. "Okay, yeah, so maybe Gamora and I are...well, you know...but it's _not_ just that. Not even close. It's so much more than that."

Rocket fake gags. "Ugh, feelings. This might actually be worse."

Gamora squeezes Peter's hand and smiles at the rest of the team. "Peter and I are in a relationship, and we wanted to finally tell you."

"Although apparently you all already knew, for the most part," Peter sighs, but he's smiling again, "but yeah, Gamora and I are together now, and we're happy together."

He pauses, and turns to look over at Gamora with a soft smile. "_Very_ happy."

Gamora smiles back. "We are."

Rocket gags again, while Mantis cheers, and Groot just looks around in confusion, still not entirely sure what this means, but agreeing nonetheless.

"I am Groot?" he asks Peter and Gamora.

"Yes, Groot, we are happy," Gamora reassures him.

Groot nods, as if that's all that really matters, anyways. "I am Groot."

Peter chuckles. "Thanks, little buddy."

"Alright, if you lovebirds are done makin' the rest of us sick with your feelins, are ya gonna come eat now, or what?" Rocket gestures at the table.

"Yes, I have made a most spectacular meal," Drax boasts humbly.

"Yes, it's quite delicious!" Mantis says with enthusiasm. Kraglin hums in agreement around another mouthful.

"That's an overstatement," Nebula grumbles under her breath as she picks at her food.

"I am Groot!" Groot adds excitedly, pushing a loaded plate towards the two empty seats left around the table.

Peter and Gamora smile at each other, and then go hand-in-hand to join the chaos of their team, their friends.

Together.


	5. Day 5: Warrior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 5 - Warrior
> 
> Infinity War AU where Ego, not Thanos, is trying to destroy the universe...and he takes Peter to Vormir in search of the Soul Stone.
> 
> Gamora doesn't react well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm alive! I know this is VERY late, but I had most of this chap completed when it was still actually Starmora Week...and I couldn't let all that work go to waste...so here we are. Thanks for all the reviews and kudos in the meantime!!
> 
> (Sorry, real life and then being unexpectedly sucked into a new fandom are to blame). Also, this will be the last part of this series.
> 
> Honestly my head's still spinning from trying to follow Endgame's time travel craziness, so please forgive my blatant misuse of it here.
> 
> And this chap is another Infinity War AU (clearly that movie broke me).
> 
> This one is going to be a wild ride.

Peter has never been a warrior—not like Gamora—but he is a _fighter_, and right now he has to fight back against the biggest world-conquering jerk in the universe.

His own father.

"Where are we?" Peter demands at Ego's back as they march up an impossibly steep cliff side, the icy cold wind blowing all around them, cutting right through his leather jacket.

Ego doesn't answer.

Peter shivers.

"Where the hell did you take me?" he tries again, his anger growing, growing even stronger than the fear of his megalomaniac father turning up _alive_ again, and basically kidnapping him from his friends, his family, from Gamora…

He can still see the haunted look on her face when Ego had grabbed him, see the slight tremor of Godslayer in her hand, hear the crack of her voice as they'd said what might've been their final goodbyes.

_"Gamora...I love you more than anything."_

_"I love you too…"_

His heart clenches as he remembers the tears in her eyes, in his own eyes—damn it he has tears again right _now_ just thinking of it—of thinking about what he'd asked her to do, what he had begged for her to understand right before this whole mess started.

_"Gamora, you heard Thor...he's coming for me."_

_"And when he does, we'll be ready for him, Peter. We aren't giving up without a fight. We aren't giving _you_ up." _

_"I know, I know you guys wouldn't...but you know how strong Ego is, how unhinged he is. And if getting me is his only chance left to destroy the universe…"_

_"No, Peter. We defeated him once, we can do it again."_

_"Well not good enough, apparently, because he's back. And we can't give Ego another chance to succeed. He can't complete the expansion, no matter what it takes."_

_"...What are you saying?"_

_"Gamora, if he...if he comes for me, if he's about to get his hands on me...you can't let him, okay? No matter what. You have to…you have to kill me."_

He'd actually asked her, the woman he loved more than life itself, to _kill_ him. She'd been devastated, and had wanted to refuse, but he'd even been so low as to bring up Thanos—thank God he was already dead, at least. Peter had gone low enough to point out that if the roles were reversed, that if it were Thanos trying to take over the universe and she was the key to its destruction and she'd asked him to kill her instead...that he'd _do_ it. That he would hate it with every last fiber of his being, but that he'd do it because she'd asked that of him, because she'd asked him for something so important, because he loved her.

After that...she had reluctantly agreed.

It was the only way he could make sure the universe wasn't destroyed because of him. As much as he hated that he'd even had to ask Gamora to make such an impossibly painful choice, he knew that she was the only one he could trust to follow through on that promise.

And she almost had fulfilled that promise, but Ego was already too powerful, having regained some of his power over the years as he plotted his revenge, with help from some Infinity Stones, apparently—and he'd taken Peter and destroyed Knowhere and incapacitated the rest of the Guardians before she'd even had a chance.

_"Let him go!"_

"_Gamora...you promised..."_

But Ego took him before she'd even had a chance to keep her promise.

Peter really, _really_ wishes they hadn't answered that distress call. Then they wouldn't have found Thor's destroyed ship, and they wouldn't have learned that Ego was somehow still alive, collecting the Infinity Stones to regrow his powers faster while destroying everything unlucky enough to be in his path…

Ego was coming for him, so he could finish the expansion. Even without his powers anymore—as far as he knew, anyways—apparently he was still needed by Ego to finish what he'd started. He didn't know why.

Maybe if they hadn't run into Thor, maybe if they hadn't gone to Knowhere looking for Ego, maybe if they'd had no idea Ego was back and looking for him, maybe they'd have had more time.

But in the end, it hadn't mattered anyways. Ego had still gotten him, and he would have found him again eventually no matter what, and it hadn't mattered if they were living in blissful ignorance of that fact or not.

Staring at Ego's back with disdain as they reach the top of this mountain on whatever the hell planet he'd brought him too, Peter clenches his fists at his side, gritting his teeth in anger.

"Hey, asshole, answer me! Where are we?"

Ego finally stops, turning to look back at him with a completely unimpressed look on his face. "You really don't shut up, do you?"

"One of my gifts," Peter growls, but he still wants an answer. "What is this place?"

Ego sighs, rolling his eyes, and Peter hates how familiar that expression is, hoping with every fiber of his being that he didn't get that expression from _him_. No, anything good about him came from his mother, and he refuses to accept anything else.

Ego finally answers. "Vormir."

Peter blinks at him, because this desolate planet doesn't ring any bells. "Why are we here? This doesn't seem like the type of place to start new planet _you_, or whatever."

Peter is secretly relieved by that thought, afraid of becoming a human battery again, even if his powers are long gone—he thinks. Ego's powers are undeniably strong again, with help from the Infinity Stones, but luckily he still hasn't managed to regenerate another planet of himself again. He still needs more power—and he already has three Infinity Stones. Without the core of his planet to draw power from, he's still strong, but not as formidable as before, at least.

Maybe they still have a chance of stopping him. He has no doubt the Guardians are scouring the galaxy for him right now...hopefully more prepared for the next confrontation with Ego than before.

"You'll find out soon enough," Ego answers, waving him off dismissively. He turns and walks up to the top of the cliff. Peter has no choice but to trudge grudgingly after him.

As soon as they reach the top, a creepy, ethereal figure suddenly floats towards them out of the darkness, tattered robes swirling all around in the icy wind and snow.

"Peter, son of Meredith," an inhuman voice echoes around them, and Peter stops in his tracks, fingers itching for his blasters—which Ego had destroyed on Knowhere with his slowly regenerating powers—wondering how in the hell this shadow creature knew _him_.

"Ego," the figure continues, floating closer, and his marred, distorted red face comes into view under his tattered cloak.

Ego cuts him off before he can continue. "Yeah, you know who we are. Let's get down to business."

The Stonekeeper nods solemnly. "You should know, as all do who seek the Soul Stone, that it has a terrible price."

Peter's head snaps up at this. Ego was here for _another_ Infinity Stone, the Soul Stone, apparently.

_He's getting too powerful._

Ego huffs impatiently at the Stonekeeper. "I'm aware. That's why we're here."

Peter frowns heavily at this, walking farther out towards the edge of the cliff, stopping between the two stone towers and looking down below. The height is dizzying, a barely visible circular structure carved into the rock far down below, the cold wind howling all around him. He turns to look back at Ego and the Stonekeeper. "What kind of a price? What _is_ this place?"

"In order to obtain the Soul Stone," the Stonekeeper floats closer to him and Ego again, completely creeping Peter out, "to make sure that whoever has it understands its power, it requires a sacrifice."

Peter walks away from the cliff edge and back towards Ego and the Stonekeeper, brows furrowed. He scoffs.

"Yeah, okay, Skeletor, like some kind of a ritual or something?"

"In a way," the Stonekeeper answers. His gaze turns back towards Ego. "An even trade. A soul, for a soul."

Ego nods, as if he expected this answer. He'd come here for a purpose, after all. "And once the sacrifice is complete, I'll have the stone?"

"Yes," the Stonekeeper answers, staring at him and Peter. "But the sacrifice must be pure, in order for it to work. You must lose that which you love."

Despite the fact that his insane and out of control so-called demi-god father has him captive on some isolated planet with renewed plans to destroy the universe...Peter can't help it. He laughs.

"Wow, that's, that's a good one," he chuckles humorously, shaking his head. "You dragged me all the way out here, trying to get another one of the freakin' Infinity Stones, to help with your take-over-the-universe plan...except you _failed_, because there's absolutely nothing in this world you love more than _yourself_."

Ego just stares at him silently, unmoving, and Peter continues with a scoff, gesturing widely with his hands. "What, really, you thought you were just gonna win, just like that? Well guess what, Ego, you lost. _Again_."

Ego still doesn't answer right away, and if Peter isn't mistaken, he actually looks _sad_ now. It must be the creepiness of this place playing tricks on him.

Peter can't help it, ignoring the ominous feeling coming over him, and needles him on. "What, are you gonna sacrifice yourself _instead_? This whole plan of yours was a complete trainwreck! Maybe you shoulda thought that through before you took me against my will halfway across the universe, just so I could see you fail in person, all because you don't have the capacity to love _anyone_."

The Stonekeeper interrupts then, to Peter's surprise. "There is one, who he loves."

Ego and the Stonekeeper both turn to look right at Peter.

Peter's blood runs cold.

He quickly pushes down his skyrocketing fear with both a surge of denial and anger.

"Bullshit," he snaps, looking at Ego in disbelief, "_bullshit_ that you love me! You love me so much you want to freakin' trade me for a stone? What, just like you loved my mother, before you _killed_ her because you're so god damn selfish you'd rather she suffered than interfere with your insane plans?! If you think you ever loved either of us, then you're even more delusional than I _thought_."

"I _did_ love your mother," Ego protests, and Peter wants to _kill_ him, for good this time, "just as I love you, my only offspring with any connection to the Light, even if you don't understand that. Just because you love something doesn't mean you won't sacrifice it for a greater purpose, when the time comes. And that time has come again."

"You don't know what love is!" Peter growls, whole body shaking in fury. "You aren't _capable_ of it."

"Peter," Ego's voice is firm but his eyes are dark and sad, "I told you this before...I need the power of two Celestials to do this, even with the power of the stones. This is your last chance. Either join me at my side as a willing part of the expansion, or…"

He gestures at the edge of the cliff behind them.

Peter's heart stops, eyes widening in sudden realization of _why_ Ego had brought him here in the first place. Ego confirms his suspicions moments later.

"If you won't join me, I'll use the Soul Stone to make your powers my own, even dormant as they are. As my sacrifice, once I have the stone, your powers will belong to me anyways, and I'll have full control. Your choice, Peter."

Peter shakes his head vehemently in disbelief, both anger and fear crawling up his spine as he spits his answer. "I'd rather _die_ than help you destroy the whole universe!"

Ego sighs heavily, as if he knew that would be his answer. "If that's your wish."

With that, he starts walking purposefully towards Peter, the Stonekeeper floating silently out of the way. Peter quickly takes a few steps back as Ego corners him on the cliff's edge. His stomach lurches as he feels the wide empty space behind him, only literal inches away from a long drop to death.

Ego is going to throw him off the edge, as a sacrifice. He's going to sacrifice him for the Soul Stone.

Peter's heart is in his throat.

"Wait, wait, wait just a minute!" he puts up his hands in surrender. "How can this even work? I thought you said that if you were alive, I was immortal."

Ego pauses a few feet from him, and shrugs. "I lied."

_Oh no._

Peter panics, looking around frantically for some kind of exit strategy. He _can't_ let Ego sacrifice him for the Soul Stone, he can't let him just get full control of his powers and basically have the power of two Celestials, plus the power of the Infinity Stones, or the whole universe is doomed.

He _won't_ be the reason Ego wins.

He makes a mad dash for it, trying to get around Ego and the Stonekeeper and back down the rocky trail up the side of the cliff. Even if he can make it a few feet down, maybe he can jump off of the other side of the cliff, of his own will, and kill himself before Ego has a chance to use him as a sacrifice.

He doesn't want to die like this...but he'll do whatever it takes to save the universe and the people he loves in it.

But Peter doesn't make it. He only gets halfway across the platform of the cliff before the too-familiar tendrils of light suddenly surround him, wrapping around his neck and nearly choking him.

He can't move, can't breathe, as he fights against Ego's power, vainly trying to throw himself towards the back of the cliff or get away in any possible away.

Kicking, twisting, and grabbing at the light wrapped around his neck, even though he knows it's no use, Peter struggles violently as Ego uses the light to slowly pull him back over towards the edge of the cliff.

_He's already too strong._

Peter tries desperately—like he'd been trying ever since the moment Ego took him—to access his own powers, but without having a _planet_ of Ego to draw them from, he can't summon them anymore, or he's forgotten how, he doesn't know. They aren't working. They really are dormant, apparently, and he doesn't know how to access them again.

He's _really_ screwed right now.

Ego walks slowly, ominously back over to the edge of the cliff, using the light tendrils to drag Peter along behind him. Peter is gasping, wheezing, and still fighting, desperate to get free, desperate not to help Ego succeed in his plan. It's no use.

Ego stops at the very edge with a deep sigh, and then slowly raises up his arms. The light pulls Peter up abruptly so that he's no longer touching the ground, floating him over until he's face to face with Ego. He's hanging over the edge of the cliff now, feet dangling in mid-air as he continues to kick and struggle, clawing at the light tendrils around his neck as they tighten even more. There's nothing underneath him now but air...and a long drop to certain death.

Ego almost looks distraught as he gazes over at him, still struggling in the vice like grip of the light as he dangles over the edge of the cliff. "I'm sorry, son, but it has to be this way. I have to complete the expansion. It's my purpose, it's _our_ purpose, even if you can't see that."

And Peter knows this is it.

He's going to die.

He gives Ego one last, defiant look, rasping out a reply through the light tendrils still wrapped around his neck. "You'll..._never_...win."

Ego's sad look morphs into a smug smile. "I already have."

With that, he drops his arms...and with it, Peter.

The light suddenly disappears, and then Peter is plummeting off the side of the cliff.

He closes his eyes as he falls away, not wanting to see Ego's so-called grief at sacrificing him, not wanting to see as his impending doom rushes closer and closer at a nauseating speed. As he falls down, down, down, the wind whistling all around him, tumbling sickeningly through open air, he can only hope the Guardians can somehow stop Ego now, before the entire universe ends.

And if they survive Ego—he hopes they'll be okay without him.

That Gamora will be okay without him...

Memories of her, of them together, flash through his mind as he falls.

Her beautiful face is the last thing he sees.

* * *

Gamora has always been a warrior, even before Thanos turned her into one, trying to survive on her home world—but all those years of training and modifications and just plain _survival_ hasn't prepared her for this.

For scouring the universe in desperate search of saving Peter from his maniac father.

Never, in all of their time together, did Gamora ever imagine that she would come to Terra—well, Earth, as they call it here—without Peter.

She'd always imagined that when and if he was ever ready to return to his home planet, they'd do it together, not because it was a final stand to protect the universe from his evil father.

Gamora doesn't even know if Peter is still...

No. She can't go there now, because they need to stay focused, for when Ego arrives. They need to save this planet, and the rest of the planets in the universe, before Ego destroys everything they'd ever known as extensions of himself.

After, after that...she'll find Peter. He's still alive. He _has_ to be.

They are somewhere in Missouri, which according to this other the team, on Earth—the Avengers, they call themselves—is the part of this planet that Peter had been from.

It's beautiful here. Gamora wishes more than anything that she was seeing it under different circumstances.

Stark, one of the leaders of these Avengers, had said that Ego would likely return to where he had started an extension of himself before, where it might grow faster with his renewed power. Gamora and the rest of the Guardians had known Ego would return to Earth as a poetic sort of way to finish what he had started, coming to the home planet of the son he claimed he loved but used for nothing more than a battery.

Gamora wants to kill him. Again. Or at least make sure he stays dead, this time.

But Ego has Infinity Stones now, regenerating his powers in a few years instead of a few millennia, and she isn't sure how they are going to stop him this time.

It doesn't matter. They will stop him, and end him for good, and get Peter back.

"_Gamora...you promised..."_

"_Gamora...I love you more than anything."_

Memories, unbidden, flash through her mind, and she forces them back down, because she needs to keep it together, to remain the fierce warrior she was made to be, so that they might have a chance of winning this fight.

They have a plan, of sorts, but without Peter to lead them, the Guardians have never felt so lost. As much as Rocket undermines him and Groot ignores him and Drax and Mantis just plain don't listen to him, when it comes down to it, Peter _is_ a good leader, and the only one that can successfully wrangle them all together into a team.

Rocket, along with Stark, had come up with as much of a plan as they could...but it was their only chance.

And when Ego finally arrives, it works. At first.

Even though he is considerably stronger than they anticipated, it turns out that he still is no match for Mantis' powers to make him sleep.

Using the help of a sorcerer with the ability to manipulate portals and time, they distract Ego mid-fight, and drop Mantis right on top of his shoulders.

"Sleep!" Mantis screams desperately, and it's obvious that she's using every ounce of strength she has to hold him, but she does. It works.

Ego isn't completely asleep, not entirely, but he is semi-comatose, swaying drunkenly back and forth with Mantis balancing precariously on his back, pressing her hands tightly to his head.

The rest of the Guardians and the Avengers scramble to get the rest of their plan in motion. Rocket sets up a remote piloted drone, that will shoot directly into the atmosphere, while Stark flips the switch on a bomb that's "almost atomic", according to him, and might actually make sure Ego stays dead this time once they attach him to the drone and launch him out into the atmosphere.

They have to act quickly, because Mantis can't hold him for long, and they need him still semi-unconscious to send him flying back into space, bomb and all.

"He is very strong!" Mantis cries out desperately. "I can't hold him for long!"

"We're movin' as fast as we can!" Rocket bites back, as he and Stark scramble to prepare the drone and the bomb.

Gamora, Godslayer clenched tightly in her hand, marches over to face Ego, hoping to help Mantis keep control in any way she can. "You won't win, not before, not now, not ever," she growls at him, eyes narrowed in disdain.

Still under Mantis' spell but trying to fight back, Ego drawls back. "You can't...stop me."

"I am Groot," Groot snaps at him, angry teenager rising to the surface. Although he won't voice it aloud, he has been a mess since Peter was taken, unable to cope with one of his pseudo parental figures being ripped away and being unable to stop it.

"You will not defeat us, as you did not before," Drax raises his knives threateningly at Ego, even though they pose no real threat to a Celestial.

Gamora takes another step forward, gritting her teeth, as she looks at Ego's half-lidded eyes. "Where is Peter?"

Ego blinks, but Mantis still has some tenuous control over him. "He's...here."

Gamora frowns, and the Guardians look at each other in confusion, as Stark and Rocket and the other Avengers scramble in the background to finish hooking up the bomb.

"Peter is not here," Gamora bites out, "tell me where he _is_."

"He is...in mourning," Mantis says suddenly, face scrunched up in both pain and confusion as she valiantly holds Ego back. They won't have much longer.

"What could this monster have to mourn?" Drax asks in disbelief.

Gamora feels a shiver of dread run down her spine, but she continues her interrogation. _"Answer_ me, where is Peter?"

"Peter is...here," Ego rasps in reply, and slowly opens his hand, with the limited control he has while Mantis is holding him.

In his hand, an ethereal orange stone sits, glowing abnormally in the sunlight.

Gamora's heart stops.

Nebula confirms her fears a moment later, speaking with resignation behind her as she recognizes the stone in Ego's hand. "That is the Soul Stone."

Gamora knows, she knows that it is…and she _knows_ what that means, as much as she doesn't want to believe it, doesn't want to know the truth that is staring her painfully in the face.

There's only one way to get the Soul Stone, she and Nebula both know that much from Thanos' failed quest to get the stones years ago. And Peter isn't _actually_ here but Ego has the stone...

_Ego sacrificed Peter for the Soul Stone. _

"No," Gamora hears herself say more than realizes she's said it, her body trembling now with both grief and rage as she realizes what Ego has done. "No, tell me it isn't true. It's _not_ true. Tell me!"

The other Guardians look at her in confusion.

"I am Groot?" Groot asks, a tinge of fear to his voice.

Gamora can't even put it into words, it's too painful, it isn't real it isn't _real_...

Mantis answers for her, able to interpret Ego's emotions and realize what happened.

"Oh no," she cries, still desperately trying to keep Ego under, "the Soul Stone...Peter…so much sadness..."

Nebula quietly clarifies the rest. "The Soul Stone requires a sacrifice...he took Quill to Vormir. And came back with the Stone."

And the rest of the Guardians suddenly realize what Ego has done, gasps of shock and disbelief echoing between them.

"What have you done?" Gamora all but screams, and now Rocket and Stark are coming back over, dragging the drone and the bomb with them, the rest of the Avengers in tow. "What have you _done_?!"

"What's goin' on?" Rocket asks in concern, knowing he clearly missed something while he was helping Stark rig the bomb.

"Ego," Drax's voice is pained, disbelieving, as he clenches his knives tightly in each hand, "has the Soul Stone."

"I am Groot!" Groot cries in anguish, clarifying the rest for Rocket.

"That sonofabitch did what?!" Rocket exclaims, now realizing what Ego having the Soul Stone meant. "He...he _killed_ Quill?!"

Peter is dead, and Ego killed him, in order to get the Soul Stone.

Gamora is barely aware of the others now, her only focus rage and grief and pain at Ego. He's _taken_ the most important person in her life from her. "How _could_ you sacrifice your own son?"

"For a...greater purpose," Ego replies, eyes fluttering. Mantis is losing her hold on him. "Peter wouldn't...join me. Was the...only way...his powers."

Gamora is going to be sick. Ego sacrificed Peter for the stone in order to get his powers, because Peter once again refused to help him destroy the universe.

She sees red.

She pulls out Godslayer in one fluid motion, losing all sense of reason now. "No, no, _no_, you didn't have to! You didn't have to _kill_ him!"

"Wait, wait, wait, hold on a minute!" Stark cries desperately. "We're almost done here, just cool it! We gotta get this thing on him and get this bomb into space!"

But Gamora doesn't hear him. All she can think is that this monster in front of her _killed_ Peter, took Peter from them, from _her_, and she can't control the amount of rage and grief and denial crashing over her.

She lunges forward, slicing at Ego's human form—even though they all know he can just regenerate—but there's no room for rational thought right now, and for the first time in her life, Gamora is completely ruled by emotion.

Unfortunately, it ends up being their downfall.

Gamora inadvertently knocks Mantis off of him as she hacks and slices away, despite the cries from the Avengers to stop and the cries of encouragement from the Guardians to continue, wanting revenge for Peter—and Ego regains control.

His whole human form quickly morphs into one of all etheral light, glowing so brightly that they all stumble back.

Gamora falls back, the power surge as Ego regains control too much to stand, but she quickly jumps back to her feet and lunges at Ego again with a cry of rage.

But Ego is too strong, and simply repels her again with a tendril of light, slamming her into the ground.

He continues his onslaught as the rest of the Guardians and the Avengers try to take him on, but they are no match for the power of a Celestial...actually, two Celestials, because he has Peter's powers now too.

Ego marches over to the terra formation still left on Earth from his last attempt at the expansion, a large mound of rock where a Dairy Queen used to be, apparently, his semi-human form still glowing brightly.

He turns towards the Guardians and the Avengers as they all race towards him, trying to stop him in time.

"I win," is all he says, as he touches the formation.

The expansion continues.

* * *

They lost.

The universe is doomed.

It is only by pure luck that the Guardians and the Avengers somehow make it back to the _Benatar_ in time, and leave the planet just as it is completely consumed by Ego.

They are the only ones left. In the universe.

Gamora just stares numbly out the window of the _Benatar_, watching as Earth disappears under Ego's formation.

The universe is dead. Peter is dead.

Gamora wishes she were dead, too.

* * *

As it turns out, even thought Earth is ions behind the rest of the galaxy in terms of technology...the Avengers know a little something about time travel.

With the help of Dr. Strange and Ant-Man—Scott, she thinks his name is—and Tony Stark, they are able to fashion a time machine from the technology of both the Ant-Man and Iron-Man suits, powered by Dr. Strange's time stone—which luckily, he still has.

The rest of the stones had been destroyed when Ego used them to power the expansion. They don't know where he is now. Ego had disappeared after the expansion was complete, and they have no idea where.

He hasn't come for them, at least, hasn't come to finish the job. He probably knows that they are doomed, that they don't have an infinite number of supplies on the ship, and that they won't be able to survive forever.

And they come _close_. It is at least a few weeks before their time machine is complete. That many people on a small ship meant supplies were running low and tempers running high.

But, somehow, they do it. They come up with a plan to save the universe.

The plan is as simple as it is complicated. They have to go back in time, gather all of the Infinity Stones—back in different areas of time before they were destroyed—and use them to kill Ego and stop the expansion right at the moment before it could be completed.

The trick is, however, that after all the stones are used to successfully defeat Ego and keep the expansion from happening, they all have to be returned back to their rightful place in time, or too many timelines will be altered.

They also can't go too far back in their present—well now, recent past time—meaning they will only go back to the moment of the showdown on Earth when Ego won. Going any farther back, and they would create too many alternate timelines, and the fabric of reality would be imbalanced, according to Dr. Strange.

Which means they can't go back any further and stop Ego from sacrificing Peter...as much as Gamora and the other Guardians have protested and pleaded.

According to the Dr. Strange, this so-called sorcerer of the time stone, it would create a tear in the fabric of reality too great to repair, and they could only afford to alter one life-changing event, which was that of the universe ending.

However, there is a slight possibility that returning the Soul Stone again might bring Peter back, but Dr. Strange isn't sure.

None of them are.

As they each pair into teams and debate who will go where for which stone in the past, Gamora immediately knows which stone she is going after, volunteering herself as the Guardians and Avengers heavily debate each location in time.

"The Power Stone, on Morag," she says quickly, confidently...only to be met with a resounding silence from everyone.

Rocket finally clears his throat, daring to break the heavy silence. "Uh, Gamora...do you think that's really the best idea?"

She clenches her jaw, loathe to be questioned by one of her own teammates in front of everyone else. "Do you not think I'm capable of completing the mission?"

She knows that the others, especially the Avengers, are doubting her abilities now, after she had lost control of her emotions and gone after Ego. She doesn't blame them, really, but she's not going to let that stop her, either. She _can_ do this, she can make up for her mistakes and save the universe, damn whatever they think of her.

Rocket shakes his head, looking unsure, for once, how to continue—because they are all so off-balance, right now—but Nebula quickly steps in. "You know that's not what he means. It would not be wise to go on a mission that will emotionally compromise you any more than you already are."

Gamora's temper flares at this—even though she knows Nebula is right and she _hates_ it—her voice rising, full of anger and raw pain. "Do you call Peter being _dead_," her voice cracks against her will, but she forces herself to continue, "an emotional compromise?!"

There's another long, heavy silence at her outburst. The Guardians all turn away or hang their heads, and Mantis sniffles, the grief in the air palpable between them. None of them are handling losing Peter very well...least of all her.

After a long moment, Tony Stark unwisely decides to step in.

"Look, Greenie," he begins, and there's definitely sympathy in his tone, "we're not saying you can't go, and that you can't help on this mission, alright? But I have to agree with ol' Blue and Furball here, you going on that particular job might not be the best fit. Let's send a different pair there that might not have any emotional ties to that one, ya know?"

"And you can't interact with the past," Dr. Strange adds firmly. "It won't change anything in our current timeline, but it could change what happens in that timeline, and we are already altering too many timelines by doing this as it is. You can't get distracted from the mission at hand."

Groot, who has barely spoken since they've all been marooned on this ship together, sadly speaks up. "I am...Groot."

"Gamora," Drax's voice rumbles solemnly, "you are a fearsome warrior...but this would be unwise."

Which is exactly why the rest of the Guardians had elected not to go to Morag, because it would be too painful. Gamora knows this, but she doesn't care.

Rational thought has been escaping her since the moment she'd learned of Peter's fate. She can barely breathe when she thinks about everything they've lost because of Ego.

"Gamora," Nebula adds, when Gamora just glares at all of them in response, "you have to be honest with yourself. How will you truly react if we run into past Quill on Morag retrieving the stone?"

Really, deep down, Gamora knows that it's an impossible temptation, running into Peter in the past on Morag, back in time right before she'd met him. She knows, really, how unwise it is, how she really isn't emotionally stable enough to see him like that, even though he won't know her in that timeline...but she has to go, she has to be the one to go to Morag, even if it's to see Peter at a distance one last time.

She voices that aloud, before adding fiercely, "I'm _going_ to Morag. Don't try to stop me."

Realizing it's a losing debate, Nebula quickly joins in, and Gamora is silently grateful for her sister's support. "I'll go with her. To make sure everything goes smoothly."

* * *

Of course, everything does _not_ go smoothly.

They get the Power Stone, but then everything else quickly spirals out of control.

Just as they are leaving the chamber the Power Stone had been in, Nebula clutching it carefully in one of the extra containment orbs they'd had left over from the Ronan days—they hear singing in the distance.

"Come and get your love! Ahhhh, yeah!"

Gamora freezes, because she'd recognize that voice and that song _anywhere_.

Peter—well past Peter, anyway—is dancing and twirling ridiculously across the barren land in front of the chamber, orange headphones of the long-lost Walkman firmly in place on his ears as he dances his way closer to them.

Gamora just stares at him, heart in her throat, barely able to breathe as she watches him. She barely notices when Nebula grips her arm tightly with her not-charred hand.

"Gamora, come on," she whispers fiercely in her ear. "Let's go before he sees us."

She tries to pull Gamora along with her, but Gamora doesn't budge, feeling like her feet are frozen to the ground.

Peter is alive. In front of her, Peter is alive and well and happy.

Even if this isn't exactly _her_ Peter, it's still him. She can't move.

"Gamora," Nebula says more urgently this time, "we need to go. _Now_."

Gamora just shakes her head, not bothering to look at Nebula, but she finally forces an answer out of her dry throat. "...I can't."

Nebula huffs out a breath of frustration. "Gamora, we've been over this...this isn't the Quill of our time. This one," she gestures as Peter dances even closer to them, somehow still oblivious to their presence, "doesn't know you. You've haven't met yet, in this timeline."

Gamora swallows thickly, fighting back the burn of tears at the back of her eyelids. She finally gives a small nod. "I...I know, it's just...it's _him_, Nebula."

Nebula's tone is gentler now, more understanding, which is something she'd been getting better at lately. "I know what he means to you, Gamora...but this isn't the man you lost. As much as that hurts, you already know that. You must be rational. I'm sorry. We have to go."

Gamora is barely holding back tears now, trembling on her feet. Nebula is right, and she knows that already—knows that this mission isn't a way to bring Peter back, because Dr. Strange was already unsure if there even _was_ a way to bring her Peter back, even if they undid the expansion with the stones—but being here, seeing him again, hearing him again, makes it unbearable to leave.

This may be the last time she ever sees him again, even if it isn't in the same way she'd hoped for. He won't know her, now, in this time.

But it doesn't matter, because she still loves him, then, now, and always.

_"I love you more than anything…"_

Nebula sighs, pulling more firmly on Gamora's arm this time, making the usually sure-footed assassin stumble, and she knocks over a chunk of crumbling rock by the chamber door with a resounding thud.

Sensing the sudden movement up ahead, Peter suddenly looks up and spies both of them standing there, and his singing and dancing both stop instantly.

Gamora just freezes, staring into his wide, surprised eyes, and she can't help but feel a sharp pang of disappointment at the lack of recognition in his gaze.

How foolish.

"Damn it," Nebula growls under her breath, because this is exactly what she'd been trying to avoid.

"Uh," Peter calls out cautiously as he eyes both of them, no doubt expecting this desolate planet to be abandoned, "who the hell are you guys?"

Gamora can't answer, heart pounding wildly now as Peter slowly approaches them, pulling the orange headphones down carefully around his neck. He looks so young here—he is. This is more than four years in the past.

"None of your business," Nebula snaps at him, intending to sound harsh, but Gamora can hear the slight waver in her voice. Even though she'd deny it, Nebula had grown to care about Peter over the years, in her own way.

"Come on, we're leaving," Nebula says firmly, pulling Gamora along with her. Gamora nearly stumbles again, still just staring at Peter, unable to do anything else.

"Wait, you guys don't have to run off," Peter frowns as he spies the orb in Nebula's other hand, obviously realizing what it is. He starts walking after them. Gamora knows he intends to try to sweet-talk them and then steal the orb...but he doesn't know yet that he's talking to the two formerly most feared assassins of Thanos.

They would never hurt him, of course—unlike their former selves might have in this time—but they can't let him catch up to them. They've already risked too much by interacting with him.

Peter quickly comes closer, calling after them with fake nonchalance. "Hey, so, did you guys happen to see anything special in that chamber behind you there?"

Nebula ignores him, dragging Gamora along, who is still speechless at the sight of him. When he still doesn't take a hint and continues following them, Nebula fires a warning shot in his direction, trying to get him to back off.

It doesn't work.

"Hey!" Peter yells, diving to the side, even though the shot was clearly wide and not meant to hit him. He narrows his eyes at them now, sensing a threat—even though he has no idea why he shouldn't, really.

Gamora knows what's coming next, because she knows Peter, even past Peter, and that is the only thing that saves them.

"Screw this," Peter mutters, activating his mask and pulling up his blasters in one smooth movement.

Gamora tackles Nebula to the ground just as Peter _shoots_ at them.

Nebula lands with a pained grunt under Gamora, the orb still clutched tightly in her hand. "That idiot just tried to kill us!"

"You shot first…but he doesn't know us," Gamora finally speaks, voice pained. "He thinks we're a threat."

And really, they are. They still carry themselves like assassins, with their respective terrifying presences, even though Thanos is no longer around to control them.

"Well let's go before he tries to shoot us again," Nebula huffs indignantly as they both scramble to their feet and _run_.

But Peter doesn't give up so easily, and Gamora should've known better.

They are faster than him on foot, no question, and they quickly round a corner, thinking they've lost him.

"Hurry, we need to get back to our time," Nebula barks at her, already setting the coordinates on the time traveling device rigged to her wrist.

Gamora nods, but her heart is heavy. She knows they need to leave, now, before Peter catches up to them...but she also can't bear the thought of leaving him behind, forever.

She wonders if her past self in this time will ever get a chance to meet him, now that the Power Stone will be temporarily gone from this timeline.

With a deep breath, she follows Nebula's lead, starting to punch in the current future to return to, but she hesitates just a little too long.

Out of nowhere, Peter comes barreling at them from behind some rubble, having activated his rocket boots and flying straight at them.

"Gamora, now!" Nebula hisses, and then enters the final number, disappearing back into their time.

Gamora is still entering her numbers, but she's hesitating now, because she isn't ready to say goodbye.

And that's where she makes her mistake.

Just as she enters the final number, Peter is already to her, and he tackles her just as she activates the time jump...taking Peter back with her.

* * *

"No way...this is, this is crazy, you know that? You guys must be _insane_!"

Gamora purses her lips, watching patiently as Peter, well past Peter who is now in the present with them, paces around the small room—their bedroom, but he doesn't know that—gesturing wildly with his hands.

She doesn't blame him, really. After everything they've just told him, everything they've just filled him in on, it would be a lot for anyone to process.

She waits a minute before she replies, watching him move in circles around the room, still mesmerized by the fact that he is here, even if he still technically isn't _her_ Peter. It doesn't matter right now, whatever version of Peter this is, because he's here, and he's _alive_.

Peter is currently freaking out at the moment, trying to understand everything she, and the others, have just told him. She'd decided it would be better to explain everything in more detail herself, without everyone else chiming in and overwhelming Peter more, which is why she'd brought him to their room in the first place, away from the initial chaos of the main room on the _Benatar_.

Gamora exhales. "I know this is a lot to take in…"

Peter finally pauses his frantic pacing and looks over at her, and her heart clenches at the confused look in his eyes, that still don't _know_ her. "Ya think? You and your scary blue sister basically time-warped me into the future, and now you're telling me the long-lost father I've always wanted to find is some god thing who wanted to destroy the whole universe and apparently did, and that he sacrificed the future version of me in order to get some stone, and now this spaceship full of the most insane people I've _ever_ met are the only survivors, and you all decided to travel back in time to get some more of these freaky stones so that you can all travel back in time _again_ to stop my father and save the universe?!"

He's nearly out of breath as he finishes his rant, arms held out wide in exasperation. It's so familiar that Gamora nearly smiles.

She nods slowly, absolutely knowing how crazy it all sounds. "Yes."

"Oh, yeah, this is fine, not completely insane in every way," Peter scoffs in disbelief, shaking his head. "Not to mention the part where I am also part-god and apparently have powers even though I always thought I was completely human, and now you guys want me to be the bait for this Ego guy and somehow I'm the only one who can fight him while the rest of you set the trap?"

As much as Strange had warned them about messing with past timelines, there had been one unexpected benefit of past Peter coming back with Gamora, even accidentally. Apparently since this Peter was from a timeline where Ego was _still_ a planet...he actually still had his powers, even if he didn't know that until now. He might be the key to stopping Ego when they face him again.

Peter pauses, waving his arms around manically again as his voice raises. "This is completely insane, you know that right?! You're all out of your freakin' minds!"

Gamora wants so badly to take him into her arms, and reassure him that everything will be fine, that he can do this...but she can't. She continues giving him a patient, understanding look as she answers, knowing this is just how Peter is working through all of the new information that they've just told him.

Not only did he get jumped forward in time and learn of his true heritage, but he'd also learned that Yondu and most of the Ravagers he'd grown up with were gone in this current time—all that he had known from his life in the point in time he was from—as well as the fact that he was now a team with the rest of the Guardians...and that he and Gamora were together.

Gamora hadn't been ready to divulge that piece of information to him quite yet, because honestly it was too painful to tell him of their relationship and realize how he didn't know about any of it, how he couldn't possibly feel the same as the Peter she'd lost...but then again, how could he? He didn't know her, or any of them, didn't know what they'd all been through together, how they'd all grown into a family together.

He couldn't love her the same as her Peter had, because he hadn't had the chance to.

But of course, Drax had let it slip that he and Gamora were in a long-term relationship, and at the truly suprised look on Peter's face, she'd dragged him into the bedroom, not wanting any more help from the rest of the Guardians and Avengers.

Gamora takes a step closer to him. "Peter...I know how all of this sounds, but we need your help. We have to stop Ego, and save the universe. You can do this, we believe in you. I believe in you."

Peter doesn't answer right away, still debating everything internally, but his stance softens a little as Gamora moves towards him.

She pauses right in front of him, so close they can almost touch, before she delivers her final blow to convince him. "Peter if you won't do it for us, for the universe...then do it for your mother."

It's a low blow, she knows, but also an effective one. Peter had also just learned that Ego was actually the one behind his mother's untimely death as well, and that wound was still raw and fresh.

A myriad of emotions cross his face, ranging from hurt to rage, but he finally settles on determined. "Wow, okay, that's a cheap shot...but okay. You got me. I'll do it."

"Thank you," Gamora smiles, and she can't help but notice the way Peter is looking at her now, at how close they are standing now.

Gamora freezes, unable to move away, even as she feels the tension rising between them.

Peter swallows thickly, looking lost in her eyes, before he quickly recovers, a cocky smile—one she recognizes all too well—crosses his face. "So, uh, did the big guy mean what he said out there? About us?"

Gamora nods, trying to control her racing heart and steady herself. She's not ready for this conversation, she's not ready to be this close to him. He's not _Peter_...but then again, he is. Gamora has never felt such a whirlwind of emotions. "Yes, it's true."

Peter's eyes widen momentarily again, before he quickly schools his expression, turning on the old bravado and charm that Gamora remembers about him from when they first met. "Wow, I mean, that's amazing. You're drop-dead gorgeous, and I'll admit it here, even a little terrifying. I've seen your sword. But the fact that I was able to get you to go out with me," he waggles his eyebrows then, "must mean that I'm pretty good…"

Gamora firmly clamps her hand down over his mouth before he can say anything else and ruin the moment. This is still the version of Peter who thought he had to act this way to get women and hide his insecurities deep down, and it pains Gamora as she realizes just how different this Peter is from the one she lost, because he hasn't had time to _grow_ yet, to fall in love with her.

At that realization...it feels like losing Peter all over again. Gamora drops her hand from his mouth and moves away quickly, as if she's been burned.

_He's not Peter, not really...because Peter is gone. Ego killed him, and he isn't coming back._

Luckily, this Peter takes the hint and stops talking, immediately realizing that maybe he's done something to upset her as she backs away. "Look, Gamora, I'm sorry if I…"

She shakes her head, cutting him off again. "Come on, let's go tell the others you've agreed to help."

She leaves the room before he can protest.

* * *

They're on Earth once again, right before the destruction of the universe. It simultaneously feels like it happened ages ago and yesterday.

They can't lose this time. This is their last chance to save the universe and kill Ego for good.

Luckily, having Peter here is a great distraction, because in this timeline, Ego has already sacrificed Peter...but now he's here, standing defiantly in front of Ego as he returns to Earth, to the spot in Missouri where the extension of himself had been long-ago planted.

"Peter?" Ego asks in disbelief, as the rest of the Guardians and Avengers wait hidden in place, out of sight. "_How?_"

Peter scoffs at him, unimpressed. "So you're the a-hole who _killed_ my mom and Yondu and the whole universe, and oh yeah, me, apparently."

Ego narrows his eyes at this. "You're not of this time."

Peter grits his teeth. "And you're about to be _out_ of time." He attacks.

As the two Celestials face off, Gamora and the others make their move. Harnessing the power of the Infinity Stones, they set the trap, rigging them with a device created by Stark to the extension already planted on Earth.

Ego is so distracted fighting Peter that he doesn't even notice.

But Peter does, looking for the signal, and as he and Ego beat each other around with their cosmic powers, he purposely throws him right into the trap. Ego lands right next to the extension, the large unearthly looking formation of rock.

Ego stands up, smirking, as he brushes some dirt off of his human form. "Well son, it's time you learn what it's like to lose. _Again_."

He reaches a hand down and touches the mound of ethereal dirt that serves as his extension on Earth.

The trap works.

Since Ego is still using the Infinity Stones in this timeline to generate his powers, he's unprepared for there to be _another_ set of the Infinity Stones—the ones they'd all traveled back in time for—to be a part of the trap.

And the thing about Infinity Stones, the Avengers and Guardians had discovered, is that they are such powerful cosmic singularities...when used against each other in the same timeline, that they should never exist simultaneously in…they cancel each other out.

And they also destroy anything or anyone trying to wield them against each other, as a way to restore balance to the universe.

Ego realizes this too late.

As he touches the extension, Stark's device lights up, each Infinity Stone glowing brightly, as well as the ones Ego is yielding in his hand.

"What the…" Ego begins, eyes widening in horror as he realizes what they've done. "No!"

He begins glowing from the inside out, screaming in rage and pain as the power from the dual sets of Infinity Stones consumes him, the light from the Stones glowing brighter and brighter all around him.

There's a blinding light, like the sun, in which all of them have to look away from, and then there's a deafening explosion as the trap works, destroying Ego.

Ego is finally gone, as well as the old extension of himself, nothing but dirt and dust raining down all around them.

The device with the time heisted Infinity Stones is the only thing to remain, sitting there as if the Stones were almost patiently waiting to be retuned to their rightful places in time. The duplicate stones were destroyed with Ego, restoring balance to the universe once again.

Peter comes over to Gamora's side, out of breath and looking at her with wide eyes.

"Oh my God...we won," is all he says. She nods.

They did. The universe is saved.

* * *

"It should be me."

Gamora swallows, forcefully holding tears at bay as she looks at Peter. She _won't_ cry, not here. "It doesn't have to be."

Peter shrugs, looking at her and the rest of the Guardians with a lost look. "I mean, it just makes the most sense for me to return the Power Stone, ya know? That's the timeline I'm from."

Each of the other Avengers had already volunteered to return each of the other stones to their rightful places in time, and then return back to this current timeline. But Peter has a different idea. Rocket calls him on it.

"Yeah, true," Rocket muses quietly, paws crossed over his chest, "and if you return the stone, then you can just stay in that timeline, right?"

Peter doesn't answer right away, almost looking ashamed, but he slowly nods. "Yeah."

Gamora can't breathe. She knows he isn't the Peter they've all lost, not as they know him...but the thought of losing him again, in any fashion, is more than she can take. Once this Peter returns to his own timeline, it will be impossible to ignore the giant hole torn into their family with his absence.

It will make them have to face the fact that Peter is gone, for good.

"But Peter," Mantis pleads, eyes wide and brimming with tears, "you are a part of our family."

Drax nods in agreement. "Indeed, Quill, you belong here, with us. We will welcome you with open arms."

Peter rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Yeah, thanks guys, I really appreciate that…"

"I am Groot," Groot bites out, but there is a tinge of sadness in his tone. This Peter doesn't understand Groot, though, but Rocket quickly translates.

"Yeah, exactly," Rocket waves a paw at Peter. "Look Quill, you've got a spot with us here, if you want it. You don't hafta go back."

"But you don't have to stay, either," Gamora interjects softly, causing the others to look at her in disbelief. She raises a hand to silence their protests, before looking back at Peter. "You don't have to stay, for us. You don't owe us anything."

Peter gives her a sad, but grateful smile. "Thanks, Gamora."

With a heavy sigh, he turns to face the rest of the Guardians. "Look, you guys seem great...but I don't _know_ you. Any of you. I don't have any of the memories that my past-future self—whoa, yeah, that's still freakin' confusing—had with all of you. And man, I wish I did. From what I've learned from this whole thing, once I got sucked into this timeline, is that even as insane as all of this is, it sounds like we were a real good team."

"We were a family," Drax corrects him, his booming voice unnaturally quiet.

Peter nods. "Okay, right, a family. But that was the other me, or whatever you want to call it. It's not _me_. I don't...I don't belong here. I'm sorry."

His voice is filled with guilt and regret as he finally faces Gamora again, his voice soft as he looks at her. "I'm sorry I can't be the person you want me to be."

Gamora nearly breaks, but manages to hold herself together. "It's...it's okay, Peter. You can go."

Letting him go is the hardest thing she's ever done.

* * *

"You a-holes just about ready?" Rocket calls out from the open gang plank of the _Benatar_, but there's no real heat to his tone.

They are finally leaving Earth and retuning to space. They had stopped by the Avengers' Headquarters on their way out to bid farewell to their new allies, but now it was finally time to leave, for things to return to normal.

Not that they could ever really be normal again. Not without Peter.

The past version of himself had left yesterday, returning the Power Stone to it's rightful place in time and choosing to stay. It's still so raw and painful, losing Peter a second time, and it's all Gamora can do to just keep putting one foot in front of the other, to try and keep moving.

It's the years of ingrained warrior in her that are the only reason she's still standing at all, she's certain.

The rest of the Guardians are coping about the same, all lost without their captain. They don't even know where they're headed next, no real destination in mind, and no real desire to secure a new job either. They still haven't had time to properly grieve with as fast as everything with Ego had happened.

Gamora hesitates just outside the ship. Once she's on board, she'll be trapped with memories of her and Peter everywhere, and she isn't sure how she'll survive it.

The others are all already onboard, waiting for her to join them.

She hears them calling her name from the cockpit, and she knows she can't delay this any longer. Some childish, irrational part of her still foolishly hoped that the past version of Peter would change his mind and return back to them, deciding to stay after all, but it was all false hope.

He had been right, after all. He didn't belong with them.

Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she makes to step inside the ship when she hears a voice in the distance frantically calling her name.

"Gamora...wait!"

Gamora freezes. She would know that voice anywhere…

_It can't be._

She wheels around, heart in her throat, as she sees who's approaching.

Peter is running towards her, looking flushed and out of breath. Gamora just stands on the gangway, frozen, as he finally reaches her, panting for air.

"Wow...am I glad...I caught you guys," he pants as he looks at her.

Gamora finally finds her voice. "...Peter? What are you _doing_ here?"

Finally catching his breath, he straightens up, flashing her a genuine smile, one that she has missed so much. "Yeah, so, I realized something. You were right. All of you. I belong here, with you guys."

Gamora chokes out a watery laugh, shaking her head in disbelief. "But why? What made you change your mind?"

Peter shrugs, but he's still smiling. "Once I returned to my timeline, and returned the Power Stone, I realized that there really wasn't much waiting for me in that old life after all. Because of how much we all altered the events in that timeline, I also realized I was probably never going to meet any of you guys."

He pauses, eyes shining as he looks at her. "That I was never going to meet you."

He takes a cautious step closer to her, voice full of sincerity. "And I couldn't stand the thought of that, now that I've met you."

Gamora nods, eyes brimming with tears. "So you came back."

"So I came back," Peter echoes, before looking little unsure. "I hope there's still a spot for me, after all. Otherwise this is gonna be really awkward."

Gamora can't help it. She laughs. "Of course there is, Peter. You're still welcome with us. Always."

"Whew, that's good," Peter chuckles. "Guess I won't need this anymore then," he adds as he removes the time jump bracelet from his wrist and tosses it unceremoniously behind him on the ground. Then his expression grows a little more serious.

"And I know I'm not _him_," he says softly, referring to his other self, "but I hope that I can learn to be a part of this crazy family again."

He hesitates, before looking at her seriously. "That I can get to know you all over again."

Gamora smiles, reaching over to take his hand and squeezing it. "I'd love that."

He squeezes back.

Peter may be gone...but in some weird twist of the universe, he's come back to her again.

And this time she's never letting go.


End file.
